Star Crossed
by AvatarHufflepuff
Summary: A continuation of my my oneshot 'Stars'. Hans and Elsa talk during the coronation and discover a mutual understanding, and attraction. Hansla. AU. Putting the rating at teen because I know it's going up later.
1. Chapter 1

Stars

Elsa took to the balcony when she finally had enough of party guests coming up to her making nice. She knew they all wanted something, trade rights, a bill passed, someone appointed to some office, and her patience was wearing thin for it.

Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life.

She sighed and rested her hands on the railing of the balcony. She surveyed the fjord, ships were scattered throughout, many of them strung up with lights and she could vaguely make out the pattern of people dancing and laughing. In the town below there was no mistaking the rousing sound of folk music clashing with the classic quartet from the coronation party above. There was laughing and drinking and dancing below and the city was aglow.

"They have their parties and we have ours," said a man's voice from behind her.

Elsa turned, startled, to see a tall man with ginger hair and sideburns to match. He was dressed all in white like some sort of good knight in a fairy tale. Elsa had to admit he was very dashing looking, very handsome, and something about his smile put her at ease.

"Beg pardon?" Elsa said.

"Forgive me Your Majesty," he bowed, "I didn't mean to startle you. I thought the balcony would be unoccupied. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

"Ah…" was all Elsa could say.

She hoped the man would leave now. She severely hoped his presence wouldn't attract more unwanted visitors. Then again it seemed the duke was busy entertaining the crowd with his continued impressions of exotic animals on the dance floor.

"Do you ever wish you could sneak out and join them?" Hans asked, coming to stand beside her watching the townspeople below.

"No," she said.

"I've done it," he laughed. "When I was a young. I used to sneak out on Christmas Eve or Easter night and go pretend to be a commoner and get roaring drunk."

He laughed at the memory. He settled his elbows onto the railing and turned to look at Elsa.

"And you, Majesty?"

"No. I never snuck out."

She kept her answers short. If he sensed her annoyance at his presence it only worked to spur him on because he was smiling.

"Don't tell me you've never been drunk before either…"

Elsa felt her face turn a slight shade of red and she didn't answer.

"You've never….? Oh Majesty, we've got to remedy that immediately," he said, sitting up.

"You're rather impertinent," Elsa said trying her best to add an edge to her voice. But it was hard to be mad at him. There was something soothing about his presence.

"And you should see me after a few pints," he laughed. And against her own wishes Elsa actually smiled at that. She bit her lip trying her best to suck it back in and turned to look at the fjord again. But it was too late he caught her.

"I knew she could smile," he laughed. "You seemed distraught, Majesty, is the coronation high wearing off so quickly?"

"I get one night as queen with nothing to do," Elsa said, "And ten bright and early I'm signing documents, writing letters, and passing laws tomorrow."

"You ought to enjoy tonight while you can," Hans said.

"Easier said than done," Elsa said. She thought of how Anna had angrily stalked off after their few minutes of laughter. For a second it had been like it always had before it all went wrong. And with the gates closing tomorrow, Elsa wasn't sure Anna would ever forgive her.

Hans must have taken note of her demeanor. He cleared his throat, stepped out, straightened himself, placed one hand behind his back and offered one to her.

"Majesty?"

She was at equal forces trying both not to take his hand and take it all at the same time. Perhaps some wine would do to lighten the weight on her chest. And Hans seemed sincere enough. And something behind his eyes echoed Elsa's own desire to escape. Perhaps they could escape together…

"I don't think tonight is a particularly good night for it," she said motioning to the party. But every argument in her head was just a way of preparing herself to go and she knew it.

"Trust me," he said nodding to the party, "Tonight is a perfect night."

She sucked in a breath, sighed, rolled her eyes in defeat, and took his hand.

Elsa was on her second (large) glass of wine on the balcony. Hans had already downed two. She was beginning to feel a buzz in her head, which felt like it was floating on her neck. Her limbs felt more fluid, though they probably didn't look it when she moved. Suddenly everything became funny.

"Twelve older brothers sounds awful," Elsa laughed.

They were standing closer to each other than they ought to be. In the back of her mind Elsa worried that someone would see the queen, downing wine goblets on the balcony with a man. But the more Hans spoke the less she cared.

"I'd give anything to trade you. One younger sister sounds like heaven in comparison," Hans said.

"Not always…" Elsa said, sobering a little. She vaguely wondered how her powers might react to her inebriated state. The storm usually whirling behind her chest felt calmer than usual in truth. But a part of her wondered if that was because of the alcohol or the person she was with.

"You must have gotten away with a lot though," Elsa said, "The youngest always gets away with everything."

"It's easy to get away with things when three of your brothers pretend you're invisible for years," Hans said. Elsa winced. "It's nice to be here, and to be noticed."

Elsa took another sip and she felt Hans eyes on her. She forced herself not to look back at him. She wasn't sure what would happen if she did.

"Do you know your constellations, Majesty?" he said, looking away from her and to the sky.

"Not as well as I should," she admitted.

Then he put an arm around her and Elsa felt a spring of butterflies let loose in her stomach. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently directed her. She felt her heart rate accelerating and she clenched her hands, afraid of what might happen. The gloves were frost-free so far.

"Do you see that one?" he asked.

He leaned into her from behind. His front was nearly flush to her back and his head hovered over her shoulder, their cheeks nearly touching. One of his hands released her shoulder to point at the sky.

"It's the foot of Dvalin, the dwarf," he said.

In all honestly Elsa had absolutely no idea where he was pointing. The sky was littered with stars in every direction. And she was too busy trying to calm down her heartbeat and focus on not letting the wine make her do something incredibly stupid.

"And of course," he said, "farther down is Thiassi's Eyes. Very bright."

He lowered his head down to sit on her shoulder now, a liberty she would never allow if she was not about to go on her third glass of wine. She was breathing fast and shallow. But then she felt hands rest on her waist, as if to calm her. Her better judgment was out the door at this point and she allowed herself to lean into his light grip.

"I like sailing a lot," he hummed, "So I memorized many of the stars, how they change over the seasons. They beautiful."

When his eyes were on her again she was fairly certain that he was no longer talking about the stars. And then she let her head turn to face his. She saw green eyes calmly looking back at her, but there was a seriousness in there. And then he made the mistake of letting his eyes flicker down a few inches to what must have been her lips. She swallowed and held his gaze.

This would be such a mistake. In the morning she'd wake with a pounding head and groan at the memory of what she did, what she let happen. But right now only the stars were watching them. A cloud must have moved in front of the moon because shadows were cast over them, as if nature meant to hide them from the world for a few minutes.

He was leaning in. And she had no intention of moving away or fleeing. He was watching her closely as he got closer and she returned his gaze until, at the last second she let her eyes lightly close. In the dark she felt him only inches away.

But some things are just too good to be true.

"Your Majesty!" a voice called.

They sprung away from each other like rabbits and Hans managed to knock his goblet, still holding wine, right off the railing.

"Ah, Majesty, there you are!"

Of course it was the duke. She looked over to Hans to see him seething at the diminutive man and she stifled a giggle.

"Your Majesty, I was wondering if we might discuss our current trade agreement. Don't tell me you're holding back on me now," he said, feigning hurt.

"I would never," she replied, deadpan.

The duke prattled on and she looked on the other side of the balcony where Hans was making faces at the back of the duke's head. Elsa gave him a look and he shrugged.

"Well, Majesty, I can see you're busy. I apologize for the lost goblet," he said looking over the railing edge.

"I have seven thousand and ninety nine more, I assure you," she said with a smile.

He nodded and came over to bow, holding his hand out, expecting hers. She offered him her gloved hand. He pressed a quick kiss to it and stood. He went to move past her but lingered for a few seconds.

"I should hope to see you later, Majesty," he whispered, "I don't believe you and I were quite finished."

Her cheeks went a darker shade of their already drunken flush. She gave him the smallest nod and he returned to the party and Elsa was forced to return her attention to the duke. She listened to him prattle and looked up at the night sky to distract herself. Somehow the stars seemed to shine less bright with Hans away.


	2. Chapter 2

The party was a buzz around Elsa. All the wine had left her in a state something like floating through the room. Was it obvious? Did other people notice? She'd never been to a party, what did inebriated look like from the outside? Was she even walking a straight line?

"Elsa I—"

Whatever Anna was about say (and it certainly sounded like something angry) stopped when she got close to her sister. Anna gave her the most incredulous look she'd ever seen and sniffed the air around Elsa. She narrowed her eyes and looked very long and hard at Elsa.

"Are you drunk?" she asked bluntly.

It sounded a little bit like betrayal, mostly like shock, and very tiny amount like amusement. Elsa opened her mouth and closed it a few times trying to form an answer that wasn't a lie but also didn't confirm the truth.

"Oh my god…" Anna whispered, "You are drunk. Of all people, you are drunk."

Anna hooked her arm into Elsa's. A part of Elsa's mind that was still working told her to break the contact immediately, the magic was still stirring beneath the surface. Anna could get hurt. But her sister felt warm.

"Are you kidding me?" she hissed. "You have the gates open for literally one day and you get drunk at your own coronation party. No, you know what, I want to remember this. The first day in my life that you actually messed up."

"Hardly," Elsa said, "As long as nothing goes wrong, nothing is 'messed up'." Elsa recalled her near mistake of letting Hans kiss her on the balcony.

"You really think no one is going to notice?"

"Is something troubling you?"

Elsa sensed an edge in everything Anna was saying. She seemed on the verge of telling her off.

"Nothing, tonight is perfect." It came out monotone and more sarcastic than Elsa would have thought Anna capable of. Then Anna walked away, sighing. Elsa did feel bad, Anna seemed to have genuinely wanted to talk to her about something (or yell at her about something).

Elsa stayed to one corner of the party. Anna did have a point, if people found out their precious, pristine, beautiful queen had willingly downed enough wine to kiss a stranger on a balcony with a party going on in the background, what other bad choices would she make. Papa would be disappointed in her.

"Want to play a game?" his voice whispered in her ear.

He waltzed past her, stopping to take a glass of wine from a passing tray, leaning back to her for just a second.

"Catch me if you can," he whispered and moved away.

Elsa watched Hans move swiftly through the party, occasionally sending glances back at her to make sure she was still watching. He moved right out the door and into the hallway where she lost sight of him. He'd had almost double what she had, how was he able to just ghost through the crowd so effortlessly.

And then she made her second mistake of the night. She followed him.

She kept to the edges of the party, away from crowds and dancers. She was part of the wall moving toward the door into the private hallway. And through the door she went, not caring if anyone saw her leave.

The hallway was dark, but she made out the form of Hans leaned against the wall down a ways.

"The queen gives chase," he laughed and backed away from her slowly, tauntingly, down the hallway walking backwards.

Elsa let a small, dangerous smirk take over her lips and followed in the dark. The sound of his boots led her around a corner and she watched him watching her as he stepped back and into the library. She followed.

As soon as she closed the library door behind her, his hand was on her shoulder and he appeared behind her. Setting the wine glass down, he took both her gloved hands in his and pulled her along through the shelves. After a few steps he slowed his pace to pull her in closer, their chests inches from each other.

"Do you explore your library often, Majesty?" he whispered.

"Yes."

He hummed in reply, close to her ear. Her eyes closed for a brief second when his breath touched her skin.

This was very, very wrong. This was a huge mistake. This would become a regret. But at the moment all Elsa could think of was how fun it was to sneak out of a party in her own honor and to not do it alone.

"Tell me something," he said, leaning against a shelf, allowing Elsa to hover in front of him, his hands on her waist and hers on his chest "What scares you the most?"

"That's an odd question," Elsa said.

"No, I need to know. What is the thing you're most afraid of?"

"Losing my sister," she answered honestly.

And the smile he gave then was not teasing or leering. Nothing in his demeanor suggested attraction to any part of her body but her brain…and perhaps her heart. He seemed, in that moment, to appreciate something about her she could not appreciate in herself.

"I'm afraid of dying invisible like my brothers pretended I was," Hans said.

"You're not invisible," Elsa said, looking directly into his eyes, a dim green in the dark library.

"I'm not dying either."

They looked at each other. Then it happened. It wasn't clear who moved first but somehow they met in the middle. Lips were on lips and it was calm. It was not a violent kiss, nor was either one of them fighting for control. They simply meshed together, and allowed it to simmer in a slow burn. Her hands slid up his chest onto his shoulders and one found his neck. Her fingers must have found a tender spot of flesh because he involuntarily let out a moan as her fingers teased across. She giggled at the sound and lightly broke the kiss.

Their foreheads remained pressed together and he was smiling against her face. His facial hair tickled her cheek and she giggled some more and attempted to push him away but he just laughed and pulled her closer, pressing a heavy kiss to her cheek, making sure to brush a sideburn against her face.

"That tickles," she laughed.

His arms circled her, pulling them together and her own hands hooked on the back of his neck.

"Why did you want to know what I was afraid of?" she asked.

"You can understand a lot from people if you find out what they fear most," he explained, "For example…you are more afraid of your sister dying than yourself. It says something…"

"And what did your answer say about you?" she asked.

"You tell me."

She studied him for a minute, letting her hands play with the hair at the top of his neck.

"You don't want to live life unloved," she surmised, "You don't want to die feeling unloved."

He regarded her words, tilting his head and jutting his bottom lip out in a pout. And then he smiled down at her and nodded. He looked as though he was ready to kiss her again but held back.

"Your party will be missing you," he said.

"Amusing considering I don't miss the party," she said.

He laughed into her neck and she fought the giggles at the tickle of his hair. But he did have a point. Her absence would be noted. And it wouldn't take long for someone to noticed Hans was missing too. And then it wouldn't take long for someone else to hypothesize why they were both gone.

The rightful, ordained queen of Arendelle snuck out of her own party with a man. And then they spent twenty minutes kissing and whispering in the library. It would either be seen as romantic or highly scandalous. Probably the latter. Maybe a mixture of both.

She exited the library alone. And reentered the party alone. Throughout the rest of the night she occasionally found him watching her, quirky an eyebrow at her when their eyes did meet.

* * *

The next day Elsa had a headache. Her body had a general ache all over. She was unusually tired and had to force herself up that morning, rubbing her forehead, and blinking her dry and burning eyes.

Everything they said last night sounded cliché, and childish now to her sober mind, talking about dying and feeling loved. But he was right, she felt she understood him in a far more intimate way than ever before.

She did not, however, have that feeling of regret and shame she anticipated. That was the first time she'd ever been kissed in her life. And though she knew that party was neither the time nor the place. And though she knew kissing a man she only just met in the dark corners of the library during a social gathering was beyond inappropriate….she knew she would have had worse feelings waking up that morning if she had not followed him in the library.

On her way to breakfast she saw Kai, annoyed, carrying a half full wine glass from the library muttering about a security breach and the damage they could have caused to the books. Elsa suppressed a grin, recognizing her own lipstick on the rim.

"Elsa!...Er, I mean Your Majesty," Anna's voice called from behind.

Anna approached Elsa with none other than Hans himself on her arm.

"I know the gates are closed and all," Anna said, "But I hoped that maybe…I don't know, you'd make an exception and let me…and Hans of course, he'll be my escort, have you met Hans? Anyway, if you wouldn't mind letting me—us—go into town?" Anna asked.

Elsa eyed Hans who shrugged at her from behind Anna and then winked. Elsa nodded curtly to her sister and moved down the hall. She felt his eyes on her. She continued on, vaguely feeling an apprehension. This was going to be a problem.


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa's father must be rolling over in his grave. She spent her first few hours as queen inebriated, in public. Then she proceeded to sneak out of a social function, held in her honor, with a man. And then she took it farther still by kissing him. And the worst part of all of it is how much she didn't care. At least at the time. The longer the day wore on, the more Elsa did cringe at he memory of what she'd done.

"These documents need signing, Majesty," Kai said, setting a stack of papers on her desk.

"What are they?" she asked, leafing through them.

"Letters of gratitude to send out to the party guests," he said.

Elsa groaned, there were over a hundred guests at the party. Over a hundred signatures to sign. She got to it with a cramped hand and quickly falling penmanship. She got through twenty, maybe thirty when a knock came to her door.

"It's open."

Kai entered again, thankfully his hands were empty of any papers.

"It's dinner time, Your Majesty."

Kai knew Elsa was not required to dine with anyone. And Kai had also known Elsa since she was born and she knew enough about Kai to know this was his way of telling her to take a break and call it a day. Elsa had to smile at that. She put down her pen and rubbed her eyes.

"I suppose I could be done for the day," she said.

Kai smiled and bowed his head while holding the door as she exited the room. They walked together through the halls while he rattled off the list of courses for the dinner and the dignitaries in attendance. Elsa took a side trip to her room to change into formal evening wear for the night, Kai waited diligently and she even got him conversing about his day, his niece that had just been born, and his mother's birthday (Elsa insisted on writing her a birthday letter tomorrow). They reached the dining room.

"The dinner has been held for you, Majesty. I'll announce you."

Through the door Elsa heard the familiar "Elsa, Queen of Arendelle" and she entered. Apparently no one had told the dinner party she'd be joining them because she watched everyone scramble to their feet immediately as she walked in (Anna nearly sent a plate flying if not for Hans quick reaction to catch her).

"Please sit down, I've kept you waiting from your meal for long enough," Elsa said. However, they did not sit until Elsa herself was seated.

The course of soup came out and small talk began all over the table. Princess Olga was conversing with Prince George. Grand Duke Alexey and the Duke of Rutland were going on about the finer point of Russian versus English literature. Anna talked to Hans about literally everything with very little connection between topics. He seemed genuinely interested for his part.

Elsa stayed quiet during the first course, slyly watching Hans but never daring to make eye contact. But with the fleeting prickle on her neck telling her someone was watching her, something told her Hans was doing the same.

"How was your day Elsa?" Anna chirped. Elsa's head snapped up to her sister, seated at her right.

"Oh, it was uneventful. Paperwork, _lots_ of paperwork. And probably more tomorrow," Elsa said, "How was town?"

"It was perfect. We went riding and watched a few ships going in and out of the fjord, and I taught Hans how to eat a krumkake," Anna rattled off.

"Did you now?" Elsa laughed at the image of him shoving the whole thing in his mouth, though she was ashamed to admit there was a pang of something far too close to jealousy.

"It went…poorly," Hans laughed, "I'm afraid the…what was it called? Multlekrem? It got everywhere."

He shrugged at Elsa who smiled, looking away to taking a sip of wine. The main course of the dinner was brought out and Elsa had a few bites before picking at it for a while. She silently listened to more chatter at the table, Hans talked animatedly with Anna about the boat races he and his brothers would have back home. The grand duke and duke had begun debating who was the better chess player.

When dinner was taken away Elsa decided she was in no mood for desert. She placed her napkin on her plate and stood. The table immediately followed suit, standing.

"I'm afraid I'm far too full for desert. But enjoy the rest of the dinner," Elsa said. The table nodded and did not sit again until she left the room.

Elsa went to the balcony of the ballroom. She shut the door behind her and lazily leaned against the railing just taking in the cool night air. She removed the glove of her right hand and formed a small snowball. She twirled her fingers and watched it spin in midair, floating inches above her hand. She occasionally threw an ornate snowflake pattern onto it and watched how the dim light of the castle refracted off of it.

She stayed that way a long time. She thought of her parents, she wondered if her father would be proud. She made it through day one as queen. Anna was healthy and happy. The kingdom was prosperous. The only hitch was Elsa's personal actions behind closed doors. Typical of a ruler, anyway.

"It was everything you wanted Papa," Elsa smiled.

Well, minus the part were Elsa was happy she supposed. At the dinner party she had been reminded, she lived in a separate world from everyone else. It was them and her. Queen and subjects, snow and ice powers and the world that wanted to hurt her. And that was lonely, but then again, Elsa had done lonely for thirteen years, she could do it for thirteen more.

Or could she? She kissed someone last night for the first time in her life. And the butterflies and swirling happiness in her chest made it incredibly hard to willingly return to life behind the door.

She heard footsteps behind her and the snowball immediately dropped onto the ground when she pulled her hand in to her chest. She kicked the snow from the balcony and shoved her glove back on just in time for her intruder to step outside.

"Oh, forgive me Your Majesty," said the familiar baritone, "I hadn't expected to find anyone here."

She turned around to see Hans standing, one hand behind his back. She relaxed a bit but still, her silently sanctuary had been penetrated.

"That's quite all right, I was just leaving," she lied. He saw right through it.

"Majesty, you need not banish yourself from your own balcony on my account," he said, "I can find another place to relax…or perhaps we share the balcony?"

"Fair enough," she said, settling back into her old position on the railing.

He silently walked up beside her, sitting on the railing and staring off at the same night sky she was. What he was thinking though, Elsa could not say. Perhaps he wished for his home, perhaps he wished to never return again. Perhaps he was thinking of Anna, or maybe a girl back home. Or maybe he was thinking of her.

"How does the crown agree with Your Majesty?' Hans asked.

"Uneventfully. After the coronation it's all business until you die…or get married," Elsa said. Hans laughed. So they were going to play that game, pretending nothing happened.

"I do hope for your sake, Majesty, that that is not the order they happen in."

Elsa smiled into the night sky. There was no moon that night. Just the stars scattered all over the fjord and the dull glow from the town, far less lit than when they had shared this balcony the night before.

"My father groomed me from the day I was born for this," Elsa said, "I knew what it would be like but…"

"But…?"

He moved closer to her, their arms touching.

"I spent my life in books. It might be nice once in a while to see the things the books spoke of," Elsa said, "I never cared my entire life to spend my days behind castle walls, it would figure the second I become queen I actually itch for freedom."

He was smiling at her He bumped her shoulder lightly with his own.

"What's stopping us right now?" he laughed, "We could leave, right this second, down to my ship, and sail off."

"Hardly."

"No I mean it, we could just disappear right now."

"And where would we go," she challenged, turning to face him.

He was really looking at her then with a small smile. Elsa could feel her cheeks going red in the dark but kept his gaze.

"Anywhere you want. I'd take you."

She was breathing a bit heavier she knew. His smile was gone and his eyes were looking into hers. She licked her lips and finally looked away, back up into the night sky.

"Do you recall me showing you Dvalin the dwarf? Look at the star closest to the horizon," he said.

He, just as before, put himself behind her and pointed over her shoulder to the night sky. This time Elsa made an effort to see where he was gesturing, finally spotting the star in question.

"Follow it, and you'll reach my home," he said, "Then if we follow the one just to the left of it, we'd get to England. And then…where ever you want…"

Elsa smiled. The stars hung so far above the world, reminding her there was something beyond the cage that was fjord. The waters went out the sea, and the sea went everywhere, to Italy, to Africa, to China, and to America.

"Come on," he dipped his head close to her ear, a smile was in his voice, "I'll even let you steer."

"Now I don't think anyone wants that," she laughed, allowing her cheek to rest against his. "I want to go to France," Elsa said, "And then to Rome, and then across the Mediterranean. I'd go see the mountains around Jerusalem and the deserts. And then just sail on forever and maybe one day I'll come back."

"Then that's what we'll do, you and me. No one will miss us."

"My sister would miss you," Elsa said, her smile falling.

"She'd miss you more. You're all she talks about."

Elsa truly smiled at that. Though it quickly brought on feelings of guilt. She should do more to try and talk to her now. Maybe she should ask her to lunch tomorrow, or even a private dinner. Surely Mama and Papa wouldn't mind that, if they were alive. But Anna probably had plans, she was a social flower it seemed, especially with Hans.

"She said you were her best friend. And then she said you two were…distant, growing up," he said.

"Yes, well…" Elsa trailed off.

"Forgive me, I wasn't prying. She just spoke a lot of you today. Often very highly," he said.

"And what about you, Your Highness?" she said, "Who would miss you if we left right now?" She was eager to get the subject off her and off her years locked away in her room.

"No one," he said simply.

"I doubt that."

Hans turned to look at her again and this time she met his eyes. He leaned lazily against the railing sideways.

"There are thirteen of us, no one will miss the youngest. It's part of why I was eager to get out. My brother said one of us had to go to the coronation and I volunteered immediately. Anything to get out of there," he said. Though he tried to sound aloof Elsa could see, even in the dim light, there was sadness behind his eyes.

"Perhaps I'll just stay in your Arendelle," he said, "Two days here and I'm already happier than I've been in a long time."

"You are always welcome here, " Elsa said.

"Hmmm…and how about that trip across the sea. Just you and me?" he said.

"One day perhaps," she laughed.

"And for right now?"

"For right now…I've got papers to sign, letters to write, a country to run…"

Elsa sighed and watched the still waters of the fjord. She heard the creak of the boats docked nearby and watched them tilt every now and again, sending a ripple through the black, calm water.

"Well when that one day comes, I'll be waiting, Majesty. Countries, and seas, and miles away from all this and who knows. We might find what we're looking for," he said.

"I never said I was looking for anything," Elsa said.

"To travel thousands of miles aimlessly? No you're looking for something Majesty, even if it's just yourself," he smiled.

Elsa narrowed her eyes at him. He said nothing and was looking away from her. His words were forward, though he seemed to think as long as he tagged everything with "Your Majesty" it was fair game.

"But what do you do here? When you're not being the queen?" he asked.

"I'm always the queen." He gave her a look. He stepped away to lean against the railing, facing her.

"Were the queen last night in the library?"

It was about time one of them brought it up. Her cheeks light up again and she had two options now: dismiss herself and retire to her room or be a grown up and talk about what happened.

"That was my first kiss…" she whispered. It was just as before, with only the stars above to judge them. She felt embarrassed about it. It made her seem like a blushing teenage girl.

"Will it be your last?"

She knew what he was asking. He was close enough that either of them could lean forward and do the deed. But she had better judgment than the night before. A feeling inside told her to just kiss him and be done with it but a louder, bigger part of her told her not to. He still little more than a stranger and kissing a man in the dark twice in two days seemed to be asking for it.

"For now it will be yes," she said, but smiled.

These were emotions she did not quite understand. And Anna…Anna seemed extremely taken with Hans. That would create a complete mess. For now she was the queen, Hans was a prince, and Anna was, officially, spending time with him.

"And by the way," she said, turning back to him while walking out, "You can call me Elsa," she whispered into his ear and vanished, in much the same way he had done to her the night before.


	4. Chapter 4

**Note**: Sorry about the long update. I'm balancing this story, my one shot series, and another full length Frozen fic I'm working on (stay tuned for that)

The next day, the first thing Elsa did was knock on Anna's door, and when her sister opened it she looked like the ghost of their parents was standing there.

"You knocked on my door…" she said.

Elsa shuffled nervously.

"Yes I…I was hoping maybe you'd want to get lunch with me?" Elsa said.

Anna looked like a second pair of ghosts popped up next to the first one. But then her shock was replaced with immediate and quick spreading joy.

"Lunch? You and me?"

Elsa nodded and Anna practically bounced into the room mumbling about how she'd only be a minute, tripping over things, bumping into them. Elsa wondered if she should go in. She'd hadn't been in Anna's room since they shared it, though she'd gotten glances of the warzone of clothes always strewn across the floor.

They walked down together. Elsa was careful to never come in contact with Anna if she could help it, gloved as she may be. They went on the balcony off the ballroom where Kai set up a table and chairs for them.

"I like Queen Elsa," Anna laughed, "I get to talk to her."

Though Anna immediately caught the gravity of what she said and turned pale, and then a shade of red that turned her cheeks blotchy.

"I think I'm starting to like Queen Elsa better too," Elsa said.

And she meant it. She did feel freer, certainly more so than the years she spent locked away in her room. She felt lighter. And though she still wore her gloves like armor, she felt in more control than ever of her powers…mostly.

"How've you been fairing?" Elsa asked.

"Amazing," Anna sighed, "I've been all over town—with an escort of course—Hans and I spent all day yesterday in the town."

Ah, the conversation was taking a turn that Elsa immediately regretted. Between knowing what they'd done and hearing Anna talk about him made Elsa annoyed, she felt possessive, she never felt that way about anything before, let alone a person. And there was something to be said about Hans gallivanting around in the day with Anna and spending his nights in the dark parts of the castle with Elsa…

"You'd love town too you know," Anna said.

"I doubt that."

"Oh come on Elsa. You opened the gates, at least for the day. You actually talked to people, you're talking to me. Don't you think it's time to end the baby steps and just go for it? You'll have to go in town soon anyway," Anna said.

She had a point, but still.

"At some point I suppose," Elsa sighed.

Kai brought out their lunch of sandwiches and tea. The sun was beautiful today, and it was cooler than a July day ought to be but Elsa wasn't complaining at all. Large fluffy clouds rolled through the sky. There were the sounds of people in town milling about, the sounds of birds overhead.

"Why now?" Anna's voice break Elsa's thoughts.

"Beg pardon?"

"You ignored me for thirteen years why did you stop now?" Anna asked, "Is it because you're queen now. Was that just thirteen years of prepping for queen, alone?"

"Yes and no," Elsa said. There they were again in uncomfortable territory. And much like Hans, if Elsa gave Anna even the slightest opportunity to ask then she would ask. "Things were complicated back then. And they're less complicated now…I suppose. Or they will. And in time things will make sense."

"Elsa I'm eighteen years old, you're twenty-one, when does 'in time' end?" Anna asked. "I spent thirteen years knocking on your door begging you to come out and you didn't say a word to me and now you're inviting me out to lunch with you."

Elsa sipped her tea to give herself time to formulate a quick answer. She wasn't entirely sure herself why she was now inviting Anna out to lunch when her wiring her entire life had been to stay as far away from her as possible. Even now the streak of white in Anna's hair reminded her why she had to stay away.

"I'm not as afraid as I was before," Elsa said.

"Afraid of what?"

"A lot of things," Elsa said, "But I'm getting better."

And Elsa truly smiled. She wasn't sure why, but she allowed herself to feel light, lighter than she ever remembered feeling. Things felt okay for the first time in forever. And Anna smiled back at her, though she had a twinge of unease behind her eyes she seemed truly happy. They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and laughed. Elsa was even half tempted to ask her if she wanted to build a snowman.

* * *

Later that night Elsa went to her room. She changed from her day gown and into her nightgown. She let her hair down from its bun and let it hang in a French braid. Then she promptly put on her dressing gown, slipper flats, and padded out into the hallway to steal away to the library.

She closed the door behind her. She walked over to the fireplace where she crouched close and threw a lit match in. She watched from afar as the fire engulfed the logs. Wary of the heat she situated herself in the chaise lounge farthest from the fireplace, tilting her book in the path of the light.

Stacked around her were many other books, many she had read before, many she had not. Reading was not something that came easy to Elsa, as much as she may like it. She learned at a young age that words liked to jump and jumble about on the page, making it difficult to read.

Nevertheless she picked up right where she left off on _Paradise Lost_.

She kept at it for a long time. With the world outside dark, she had no way to know for how long she was there. The cracking of embers told her the fire was still going, though she did not notice as the light died down.

That's when she heard a shuffle on the carpet behind her.

"Forgive me, Elsa."

Elsa knew the voice for Hans' immediately. She looked to see him dressed down in only his breeches and untucked dress shirt from dinner. Even his hair was not neatly sitting on his head. And it was only in taking in his own casual appearance that Elsa became very aware of her own.

She gasped and quickly pulled her dressing gown closed and tucked her legs under herself. And it was with horror she noticed the worst part of all: she was gloveless.

"No please," he said, turning his head as to not look directly at her, "No cause for alarm. Forgive my uh…casual appearance."

Elsa knew she ought to tell him off for coming in unannounced, though granted it was the middle of the night in a library. She also knew she ought to leave, or tell him to but she didn't do that either. How scandalized her mother would have been to learn her daughter received a man in the middle of the night in nothing but her night gown and dressing gown to protect her modesty.

However the glove situation was a problem as Elsa quickly became agitated with her hands bare in the presence of another person. She did her best to pull them in on herself. Despite this effort, the temperature of the room did start to dip.

"What can I do for you sir?" she asked as kindly as she could muster under the awkward circumstances.

"Nothing, Majesty. Except perhaps to forgive my intrusion," he said. At her use of 'sir' he had tacked back on the use of 'Majesty'. Elsa frowned.

"No, it's fine…Hans," she said, "It is forgiven," she smiled.

"Well then…I'll just…" He awkwardly turned to leave in a manner that reminded Elsa far too much of Anna. She watched him bump into one of her book stacks, mutter out an apology.

"If we can share a balcony, I see no reason we can't share a library," Elsa said taking pity on him. This was the first time she'd seen him be anything but graceful and charming. Well, perhaps this version of Hans was a different kind of charming…

He smiled, relieved.

"Thank you. It seems we've been sharing quite a few things lately."

It did not go unnoticed that the chair he picked was the one farthest from Elsa's own. And while she was thankful for that and not surprised, something about it tugged at her in an irritating way. She thought immediately of Anna spending the entire day with him and something in her didn't sit well. From the corner of her eye she watched him leaf through her piles of books, careful not to disturb the hair ribbons sitting in them as place markers.

"You read a lot of books at once," he said.

"I find it difficult to focus for too long on a single book," she said.

"You seemed to have been doing fine with that one for a while," he nodded towards the one in her hands. But then he immediately turned crimson, Elsa had never seen a man blush before, "I—not that I was watching…just that…"

Just that he had been watching her. There was something highly improper in that and yet Elsa once again found herself not caring. Well, it wasn't that she didn't care it's just that it bothered her less than she knew it should. And than in itself bothered Elsa.

Everything about this situation was screaming in Elsa's ear. She thought of the magic. She had not spend large amounts of time with other people who were not her parents or Kai. Hans was the first person she'd been around gloveless in years. And somehow this felt more intimate than the kiss they'd shared in this very room. And on top of it she was hardly dressed. Her heart was pounding. This was a bad idea. She should go. She should make him go.

A line had been crossed that they couldn't come back from even if he left right now and they never saw each other again.

Elsa returned to her book while he picked up one from her pile and began hurriedly turning pages, clearly in search of something. Elsa pointed her eyes in his direction discretely watching him. Whatever he was looking for he must have found what he was looking for because the feverish page turning stopped and he smiled at the page. He read the passage muttered and to himself.

"_The Count of Monte Cristo_?" Elsa asked aloud as she read the title, not realizing until she said it that it had been out loud. He looked up.

"I never actually read it myself," he said, "But I had Klaus read it to me when he was willing. This was always my favorite passage: 'Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered against the rocks the next. What makes a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look at that storm and shout: Do your worst, for I will do mine!'"

Elsa thought the words over. She'd never read it and yet something in her shuddered thinking of her powers, thinking of a wounded Anna, and how quickly that night had turned. One moment in the sun, the next against the rocks.

"Why that passage?" Elsa asked.

He hesitated.

"My life at home has not exactly been charmed. Often times having twelve older brothers can feel like basking in the sun and then being thrown onto the shore. I heard this when I was a young boy and decided it was who I wanted to become. The kind of man who shouted at the storms life could bring."

It was a far deeper and more serious answer than she expected to get, and clearly than he expected to give considering the way he shied back into the book after finishing.

"What about you?" he asked from the safety of the book, "You said yourself you can't read for long periods of time, what has you so captivated in _Paradise Lost_?"

"It's human," Elsa said. He furrowed his brows and she leaned in closer to point to the page, "Even evil, the most awful evil, can be human, can have feelings and emotions. And if a villain can do all that, then perhaps there is room for redemption."

"And what would a princess or even a queen want to know about evil?" he asked.

"A lot of things," Elsa said, suddenly very aware of her exposed hands. Hans became aware of them too.

"I've only ever seen you with gloves on," he said. "Your hands are…" he looked like he was ready to grab them. She prayed he wouldn't, "Lovely." He didn't.

But that didn't stop the blush. And in the dim firelight there was nowhere to hide it. The majority of their interactions until now had been joking and light, even the drunken kiss, but this had trespassed into somewhere far more serious, far more solemn. And yet Elsa felt more comfortable in the library in this moment than she did spending years in her room.

"'The mind is its own place and can make a heav'n of hell and hell of heav'n'," Elsa quoted.

"And what does it mean to you?" Hans asked.

"It means what my life has been like for a very long time," Elsa sighed.

"Were you cast out of heaven as well Elsa?" he asked with a smile, clearly teasing.

"You'd be surprised…"

She stopped there though. If she went too far he would ask, and he _would _ask. She should get to bed, or safety, which was it? Both. But he was watching her, his eyes were very soft but there were equally serious. It was clear what he wanted. And it would be a lie to say she did not want to too. But she thought of her hands, she thought of how Anna was taken with Hans. It would be a betrayal.

But, for a few very brief seconds, she did not care. And that was all it took.

Once he saw her eyes were reflecting his own thoughts back at him he got up from his chair, sat down on her chaise, cupped her face, and they were kissing again. This kiss was calm as the other one had been but there was more pulling on lips, even the accidental nip of teeth. She hazard to bring her on hands overtop his, resting on his cheek.

Her bare, dangerous skin was touching his. Her hands were cold she knew but the kiss was so warm. She should pull her hands away. She should quit while she was ahead. Her hands went to his chest and gently pulled him away just enough for his forehead to rest against hers.

They didn't say anything for a long time after that. Eventually Elsa bid him goodnight and exited the room with a smile on her face. In her room the emotion she had stored up in the library released and a snowfall immediately came down from the ceiling. She didn't care though, it continued as she crawled into bed to sleep.

It was only when her head hit the pillow and she was close to drifting off that she remembered the biggest problem…Anna.


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few weeks they developed a pattern. Hans spent his days about town, serving as escort for Anna. He swore up and down to Elsa it was only that, a chaperone. She believed him, in fact she'd rather Hans with Anna rather than a randomly assigned guard. The girl was a handful. But still that didn't stop him from constantly promising he was doing only platonic, normal activities with Anna.

"I believe you, now shut up," Elsa said, pulling him by his lapels into her study and closing the door.

"I just wanted to make sure—Anna is—" he mumbled out in between kisses.

"Honestly the last thing I want to hear you say right now is my sister's name."

He laughed and took control, seizing the sides of her face and finding a sturdy wall to pin her to.

The other half of that pattern was how he would come home that day and immediately find her as the sun was setting. They were always together in the dark. Though he never actually "spent the night" with her nor was she ready for that sort of intimacy, he spent ours into the night with her.

"I'm trying to actually get work done," she said, hunched over her notes in front of the library fireplace. He was behind her pressing kisses along her neck and exposed shoulder.

"Oh come on," he said, walking in front of her. He took her hand and pulled her to her feet with little coercion. She gave him an annoyed eye roll and suppressed a smile as he pulled her farther from the fire and into the rows of books.

"Plenty of work can get done in the dark parts of the library," he said before she felt his lips moving on her against and her knees went weak.

"Small break," she muttered, wrapping her arms over his shoulders and digging fingers into his hair.

It wasn't always just physical activity. In fact most of the time it wasn't.

One night he'd come back particularly early from whatever he'd been doing that day. They were sitting on her balcony, looking out at the sun setting on the horizon of the fjord's edge. The sky was apricot and blood orange. The dark water was lit up to reflect the dark sky, very still and glassy. She'd ordered tea, though to hide her guest she'd ordered only one cup and they casually passed it between them.

"How can you drink black tea with nothing in it?" Hans said through cringed face and puckered lips. He took another sip nonetheless.

"Swallowing is an excellent start," Elsa said.

"Ha. Ha."

He passed the tea back to her.

"Next time I'll suffer through your way," she promised. His way involved two sugar cubes.

"We're one of two principalities in the German Confederation," Hans said, continuing their earlier conversation. "We're also the smallest country."

"All the more reason to be in the confederation," Elsa said.

"His Serene Highness my brother is quite concerned your grandfather in Prussia will be knocking down our borders any minute demanding annexation," Hans said.

"Grandpapa Bertie wouldn't do that," Elsa said and Hans laughed.

"You call one of the greatest military minds in the history of the Prussian Empire, King Albert III 'Grandpapa Bertie'," Hans laughed. "My own ancestry is reserved to nobility in my own country, and some nobility of neighboring countries. We were never important enough to warrant marriage contracts with actual kingdoms."

"Well my father's mother was Princess Marie of France, my mother's father was Albert of Prussia and her mother was Grand Duchess Olga of Russia. Through Grandpapa Bertie I know the Prince of Wales is my cousin, and obviously the Romanovs…" Elsa continued on, reciting what she knew.

"The granddaughter of the King of Prussia, the great-granddaughter of the Tsar of Russia, cousin to the future King of England, granddaughter of the King of France. And here my brother could barely convince the Duke of Bavaria to approve his marriage proposal to his daughter, we're a small country…"

They talked like this often, about politics, about history, about each other. Elsa enjoyed that as much as she enjoyed the moments when their mouths were too occupied to talk. She had never been in a relationship with anyone in her life. Balancing out the physical and the intellectual was not as difficult as she thought it would be, at least not with Hans. He stimulated her mind in equal amounts to stimulating her senses. His tongue had the ability to make her think about her current trade agreements as well as make her moan into his mouth. Never at the same time of course.

"But Lucifer was arrogant beyond belief, a manipulator, a-"

"He's like any child," Elsa shot back from across the table in the third floor parlor, "We all want to fight against our parents at some point."

"You pity him his exile from heaven," Hans said.

"Of course I do."

They argued often about literature. Elsa leant him the library's copy of _Count of Monte Cristo_ so he could properly read it for once. He was trying to explain to her the plot of the novel, attempting to reason that she should put down _Paradise Lost_ for once.

"I'm just not one for adventure novels," she said.

"No you're far too interested in sympathizing with the devil himself," he said, almost pouting at her disinterest.

"Maybe Milton paints a realistic picture of him to sympathize with," she said with a raised, elegant eyebrow.

"Well perhaps you're in fact the devil then," he said, crossing his arms. Mistake, her eyebrow raised more and she scooted close to him.

"Perhaps I am." He walked right into that one. Not that he minded.

He closed the ever-decreasing distance between them at the table and the conversation was over to the sound of the crackling fireplace while hair quickly became mussed and clothes askew.

They went at it like that for weeks, meeting almost every night to kiss and talk and kiss and talk. Sometimes he got bold though. One afternoon Elsa was walking down the hall only to be caught by the hand and pulled into a niche in the hallway where Hans promptly cut off any scolding she was about to give him. One night in the library she even fell sleep lounged on the chaise with her head and arm resting on his chest. Waking up in his arms later that night had been the moment she realized something had reached deeper in there relationship and she hazard to use _that _word. But she saw it in his face when she awoke, she knew he had been watching her sleep, completely content for hours. That word was written on his face that night and if he knew it he didn't dare to say it.

Hans insisted no one back home was missing him and continued to prolong his stay. To the outside world it seemed as though Princess Anna was the reason. And she was practically bouncing off the walls.

Elsa had spent more and more time with her too. They had meals together, tea, it was all very formal and distant compared to their childhood of telling ghost stories and building snowmen but it was a step in the right direction. Elsa felt safer around Anna than she ever had before. She felt calm, she felt relaxed of the tension and fear she carried for years and years. What was brining this on she wondered? She still kept the gloves on though.

Another, more shameful part of Elsa knew a good portion of her wanted to be around Anna was also fueled by her own guilt. Anna talked to Elsa about Hans more and more and that euphoric, blissful feeling began to turn into something entirely less desirable when she was around Hans.

"Why do you keep spending time with her?" Elsa asked one night. She was sitting on the floor, leaned against his legs where he sat on the couch behind her.

"What?"

"My sister, why do you keep spending time with her?"

"Are you jealous?"

He said it as a joke but it hit Elsa in an uncomfortable way. She wasn't jealous, not at all in fact. Hans told her all the perfectly innocent and platonic things they got up to and Anna echoed his stories to Elsa when they talked at dinner or tea.

"No," she said sharply, "Anna really likes you. And you keep sort of…"

"Sort of what?"

"Leading her on?"

Hans sighed. He leaned forward to rest his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm not leading her anywhere. I chaperone her when she wants to go out. Sometimes we have tea or talk in the castle some days. I've never indicated any romantic intensions toward her," he said.

"She's spent her entire life shut in the castle, she's naturally going to attach herself to the first man who gives her attention," Elsa said, "You have to be mindful of that."

"How she responds to me isn't my fault," he said.

That had been a mistake. Elsa got up and turned to look at him.

"It is when you don't do anything about it," she said, "Don't act like you don't know how she feels. You've done nothing about it for weeks." Elsa sighed.

"What?" he shot up to stand, now taller than her.

"I think you like the attention," she said, very bluntly, "You never got any at home, so here you are with two sisters, one in each hand."

He looked to be fuming. But he did not initially deny it. In fact a wave of shame rolled over his face before he regained his glare. In that instant they both knew she was right, at least a little bit, but he was not about to admit it.

"I'm allowed to have friends Elsa," he said, "And you'd be surprised. Anna and I understand each other in areas that you could never."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Well the part where we both have older siblings that like to pretend we don't exist? The part where we're both the second best to our prefect older siblings? Your sister feels so inferior to you, she feels like you don't like her, and she's so scared that you'll start ignoring her again that she won't bring it up to you, so she tells me," Hans said.

Elsa drew back. She was bouncing between anger and sadness and pity and shame. It must have showed on her face because his hard stare relaxed a bit and looked apologetic. But the outburst got to her. Hans and Anna shared something else as well, an inability to understand Elsa's deepest motivations and thoughts and actions. Perhaps it's best they remained in that pool together and separate from Elsa.

"Well," Elsa said, turning her back to him to watch the fire, "Perhaps, out of interest for what is best for the sister I have poorly treated my entire life, I should step aside."

The words hurt to say, they hurt more than they should have and that dangerous word was ringing in her ears again.

"What?"

It hurt her more that he had not said it angry. He said it _devastated_.

"Elsa," he said, "You can't—I don't—"

She didn't want to turn around. She didn't want to see what his face must look like. She wasn't going to start crying here, and especially not in front of or for a man.

"What we're doing is wrong. You know how Anna feels about you and you let it continue and that's wrong. But what I'm doing is worse. She's my sister," she practically whispered the last part. "I was never there for her growing up. So I'll be there for her now."

"What do you think you can just hand me off to her like I get no say in it?" he said. "I have a choice and you know who I choose."

Elsa finally turned to look at him.

"I spent my entire life giving up things for my sister, what's one more?" she said.

"So I'm one of your things? A toy you can give up playing with and hand off to your little sister so she'll stop crying? That's not fair to me. That's not fair to Anna. And it certainly isn't fair to you," he said.

Elsa had enough. It was getting chilly in the room. If she stayed longer it might snow. She closed her eyes and started breathing deeply through her nose. Don't feel, don't feel, don't feel…

"Nothing is ever fair to me," she said, "I'm used to it."

"Why do you always play the martyr?"

"Because maybe there is something I'm martyring myself for."

"What is it? You keep so many secrets Elsa. You keep talking about how you gave things up for Anna growing up, about how you felt like you were cast out of Eden, how you made a heaven of hell or whatever that damn line was from that damn book," he said. He was stepping near her, readying to place his hands on her shoulders but she backed away.

"We should go to bed, both of us," she said curtly. Conceal, don't feel. "I'm sure you've got plans with my sister tomorrow. And I've got an edict to read and edit."

"Elsa…"

It was soft, and quiet and it hurt more that he didn't move to touch her than anything else. She blinked to hide her quickly moistening eyes but he clearly saw it. She turned and hurried out of the room. She rushed to her room and slammed the door shut behind her, not entirely convinced he didn't quietly follow her.

She sat against the door and started crying. The snow started to fall and the frost crept over all four walls. She kept it under control for so long, she was doing so well. But this had to happen. Affairs never last when you're the other woman. Eventually you do the honorable thing. Anna deserved to be happy, she deserved to be loved and Elsa was denying her that.

She gave many things for Anna, what was one more? Hans was just another door, locked away for Anna's sake.


	6. Chapter 6

**Note**: Sorry about the long update. Finals kicked my ass when I had to spend 16 hours straight (I counted) studying the Bible for my lit final, because I though being a religious studies minor was a smart thing to do. But I have a new party trick and it's called I can tell you where any passage come from in the Bible, because you know, that's fucking useful. Anyway here ya go, and one of you asked if Kristoff was going to show up at some point...stay tuned.

Hans had stayed outside her door for a long time after she disappeared inside. He thought about knocking a few times but just ended up sitting against it, not really caring what late night servant walked past and saw him, dressed down and disheveled, sitting outside the queen's bedroom.

It would be easier if people knew. Hans didn't know when their motif of secrecy became the rule for their relationship. It started out as a fun game, sneaking off together while others idly went about their business. But the more serious the game got the more Elsa wanted it hidden away in dark corners and in the night. It had to do with Anna he knew.

And as much as Elsa blamed him for the situation with Anna, she had also let it continue uninterrupted for weeks without complaint until she got jealous. That did annoy Hans but he'd argue about it with her later as long as he could be sure there would be a later for them.

She'd broken off their…well there was really no word for it. It was hardly "courting" given that no one knew about it. They weren't "lovers" as they'd not passed that particular threshold of intimacy. They were just together. And now they were not and it ached in Hans more than anything ever had. He was afraid to admit all the feelings he felt for her at once. And the sheer magnitude of what he felt. When he was angry with her he was _angry_. And when he laughed her jokes he _laughed._ And that oh so dangerous word was lingering on the tip of his tongue every time he was with her.

He got up. Elsa wanted him to choose. And though she may think she made the choice for him he was not about to let her go so easy. He wouldn't watch her from across the room while pinned to the arm of her sister. He wouldn't watch some other man ask her to dance or tolerate her giggling at his jokes or patting his arm. Elsa wasn't his, she didn't belong to Hans but Hans wholeheartedly and unashamedly belonged to her. And he liked it that way.

He walked down the hall toward the guest wing. He had to have a talk with Anna.

* * *

Elsa didn't see Hans for a week, half because she was avoiding him and half because he was probably avoiding her. She spent hours upon hours locked away in her office doing work or, if there was no work to be had (which was rare) she'd just take to reading in there, eating in there, doing anything and everything in there to avoid accidently crossing paths with Hans. And if she was being honest with herself, she was avoiding Anna too.

She was afraid to find out from Anna that Hans had done the exact opposite of what she told him to do and gone and broken it off with her sister. And at the same time she was afraid to hear that he did exactly what Elsa wanted and truly entered into a relationship with Anna. Elsa couldn't handle that. Especially with her powers back on the fritz once again.

Another good use for the locked office was hiding all the snowflakes and sheets of ice.

Knock. Knock.

There was only one person who knocked that way on her door.

"Elsa?" came the familiar voice.

No, no, no. Elsa groaned. Anna knew she was in here, she couldn't just not answer. After spending weeks eating with Anna, talking with her, even playing a game of chess with her, Anna wouldn't accept the silent treatment again. She had to answer. Elsa shuddered, twisting her hands together, breathing heavy. Conceal, don't feel.

"Coming," she called, shakily walking to the door, fumbling at the deadbolt and allowing Anna in.

She didn't know what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the downcast girl who stepped into the office and slumped down on the couch. She put her face in her hands and groaned obnoxiously as Elsa closed the door.

Keeping a safe distance away, Elsa sat at her desk.

"What can I do for you?" Elsa asked, pretending to file paperwork.

"It's about Hans."

Well that was straight to the point and it was certainly a point Elsa wanted no parts off. But she was literally locked in the room with Anna. She shifted uncomfortably, folded her hands into her lap, and felt her face try to go red and pale at the same time.

"Go on."

They were hardest words she had to say that week. The two syllables were like marbles in her throat.

"He sort of—well we were never so he didn't—but he did, and he said—"

"Anna, less verbs, more subjects."

"Right, well, Hans sort of…broke things off with me."

"He _what_?"

It came out with more edge and danger than Elsa had intended. She felt her eyes glare without her telling them to. Of course he did. Of course he couldn't be trusted to just exercise some self-restraint. She would strangle him. She would freeze his limbs of. She would smack him…she would, probably, kiss him.

"I mean we were never actually courting or anything," Anna said, standing and pacing, "But we had fun together and we understood each other and got along well, we never argued about a thing. It seemed…sort of…perfect."

"Well," Elsa said, "Perhaps that's the fault in it. It was too perfect." How were you meant to talk to someone during these things? How were you meant to talk to your sister? How were you meant to talk to a woman you literally just stole a man from?

"I don't know!" Anna said exasperated, flopping face down into a pillow. "He said he really did value you me and wants to keep going out in town and doing things together but he said he's in love with another woman."

Elsa could pinpoint the exact second her heart stopped and a cascade of butterflies burst right behind her navel.

"He said he's in _what_ with another woman?"

Anna furrowed her brow at Elsa.

"You heard me."

Elsa felt her cheeks heating up quickly. She clasped her hands together, don't feel, don't feel, don't fell, don't…but he _loved_ her. He was in love with her. As guilty as she felt, as much as she wanted to go the rest of her life far away from this debacle with Hans, the reaction she felt now told her that she probably never could. Not now.

But no…she couldn't do anything about it. Could she? _Should_ she? Oh God…

When had this happened? It happened before they met. She was waiting for him to introduce himself at that party. She was already in love and waiting for the formality of meeting him. She hated his stupid sideburns. She was annoyed with the way he ate, she thought some of his jokes were completely humorless. But she loved him. All of him.

"What do I do?"

"Huh?"

Elsa was brought back to the room where Anna sat, unknowing that her own sister was this faceless enemy to her pursuits with Hans.

"What do I do?" Anna repeated.

"There's nothing to do," Elsa said. Anna sighed.

"I'm just—I don't know how these things work. And Mama was never really good for explaining them. And you're my sister and you're supposed to be the person I go to with this stuff…do I still talk to him?"

"He told you he still wants to be your friend so I see no reason why not," Elsa said. Actually she could think of a few.

"Okay," Anna said, standing. "Having a friend would be nice for a change actually."

Then her hand flew up to her mouth and her face went redder than a tomato. Elsa had never seen such a look of utter _horror_ on a human face before.

"I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean that Elsa," Anna said, dropping back down, "I didn't—I just sort of—that's not what I—"

Elsa raised her gloved hand and silenced Anna immediately. The younger girl just looked down and gnawed viciously on her bottom lip.

"I know what I did, or rather, what I didn't do," Elsa said, "I don't plan on going back to that way of life for either of us."

"Well, you're door was locked just now," Anna muttered.

"Okay, starting right this second," Elsa actually laughed a bit, "I don't plan on it."

Anna smiled as her face clearly cooled back down.

"Does part of that 'not going back to then' involve you telling me why it happened in the first place?" Anna asked, a tint of hope glazed over her voice.

"Not yet," Elsa sighed, "But…one day…maybe."

And she meant it. She envisioned herself one day, happy in some fashion, finally able to tell Anna. She was slowly, ever so slowly, and bit by bit, learning to control the powers, even with her relapse. She was doing something right in her life though she couldn't figure out what it was. Some aspect was a calming balm for the magic. She'd have to do some research on that.

* * *

"Remind me again why I thought it was prudent to wear the most constricting dress ever tailored into existence?" Elsa asked her lady-in-waiting while the final touches were going on her bodice.

"It's National Culture and Heritage Day, Majesty," the lady-in-waiting replied, "Your Majesty's got to dress right."

She should declare the holiday defunct and outlaw its practice and observance if it meant she could get out of this dress.

Another week had gone by with no word from Hans and not even a sight of him. She had to check with Kai to make sure he hadn't silently shipped off back to the Southern Isles. Though that would have been best, Elsa was not afraid to admit she was relieved to hear that he had in fact been returning to the castle every night and the staffers cleaning his room reported it was being used.

There was very little chance she wouldn't see him tonight. And it was with that knowledge that she made sure her hair was set just right and the color of her dress was as flattering as could be. Why exactly, she didn't know. She had no plans to reengage into a relationship with him, especially now that she and Anna were back into a place of growing friendship.

But still…she didn't mind the idea of his eyes on her.

"Elsa, Queen of Arendelle!" Kai announced and she walked into the room at a double door entrance. The room bowed and raised glasses acknowledging her. She smiled and gave them a nod in return.

For an hour there was no sign of Hans. She moved about the party talking to who she had to, greeting where it was appropriate, and once even pawning Anna off to the Duke of Weselton for a dance she would really rather avoid.

"We need to talk," said a low voice in her ear.

She nearly got whiplash from the snap her neck gave to face him.

"Excuse me?"

"You and me, we need to have a conversation," he said, "It is preferable that it is not here if not completely necessary."

"If you think I'm leaving this party with you, you're insane," she hissed.

He gave a short, exasperated sigh. He put his arms behind his back, formally.

"Very well."

She watched him walk away and straight over to the band in the corner. She watched him whisper something to the maestro and then very coolly walk back over to stand in front of her again, his posture unchanging.

The music changed to a waltz. Elsa realized what was happening before it happened. The sneak…

"If I may?" he bowed, holding the position and offering his hand.

"Have you lost your mind?" she said through gritted teeth.

"You'll never find out if you don't dance with me."

Against all better judgment she curtseyed and took his hand, if only to get close enough to smack him repeatedly. She placed a hand on his shoulder, his went to her waist, and their free hands joined. How many times had their hands been in positions like this while doing less socially appropriate things?

"You don't need to be so stiff," he said, as he spun her, "There's no need to dance like a stranger with a man who knows what it feels like to have your tongue in his mouth."

He looked far too pleased with himself when she felt her cheeks grow hot.

"What do you want besides to criticize my dancing?" she asked.

They moved about the floor more, he lifted her, along with the rest of the dance group, and put her back down.

"We have to talk about us," he said.

"There is no us," she said.

"There'll always be an us and you know it. Even if I run back home forever and you marry some other man, 90 years from now when we're both old and hunched over there will still be an us."

When her eyes met his she knew there was no malice in her face. As irritated as she was with his tactics and boldness and sheer disregard for the presence of others in the room or her own discomfort, she was not mad about what he said. It clicked into her brain in a place she could only describe as _right._

"You told my sister you were in love," she said.

"I didn't lie. Are you in love, Majesty?"

"If I was, I would not say so here."

"Then permit me to lead you to a place where you can."

He stopped their dancing and pulled her over to the side of the dance floor. She couldn't, she shouldn't…but the word wouldn't never came to mind. She now realized how graceful her two weeks free of Hans had been but how, at the same time, it made it her pine after his presence even more without her knowledge. Feeling his body under her hands again and hearing his voice talk only to her relight something she hoped to bury. She could never shove away and lock up these feelings while she was near him and she desperately wanted never to be away from him.

She took his arm, ignored the glances of the duke who was completely scandalized by having been denied a dance by her and watching her dance with another man. Anna smiled at her, ignorant of all of it, and only spared a slightly pained glance at Hans.

In the hallway their pace quickened. Hans took her hand and sped down the hall. She picked up her dress and followed but yanked on his hand to the opposite direction when it was clear he was heading to the library.

"Not there," she said.

He followed obedient.

"I guess I'm insane after all," he laughed, mocking at her earlier comment.

"Shush."

They walked through the halls and up many flights of stairs. They went down more halls until they reached the white door with blue snowflakes. He turned paler than snow.

"Your room?" his voice cracked.

"Honestly," she sighed, opening the door and pulling him in, "You're not fourteen, calm down."

She had no intentions for _that_ right at the moment. The library was too easily accessed, especially by the diminutive duke who, according to Anna's report back after the dance, wanted nothing more than to collect every single valuable good he could from the kingdom. The prized art in the library was probably not out of the question.

She closed and locked the door behind her, leaning back against it.

"Talk," she said.

"I'm in love with you," he said almost immediately. "I mean, just to clear it up in case you thought I was talking about someone else, because I wasn't. I told your sister it was a girl from back home and I wanted—"

The rest of that train wreck never left his mouth because she was kissing him. His hands immediately cupped her face at the place where her jaw met her neck. She gripped his lapel with one hand and pulled at the hair at the base of his neck with the other. Then she ripped both gloves off and placed her hands over his.

His skin was warm, the kiss was warmer. She stopped short of letting her tongue get a mind of its own. Gently, she pushed him back.

"Are you in love with me?" he asked, out of breath.

She looked directly into his eyes. The next word was the hardest thing to ever force out of her throat. It stuck in her throat like a barb, out of pride, out of not wanting to admit all the vulnerability and all the honesty that would come with the answer she was about to give.

"Yes."

Her eyes were closing on their own as his mouth was back on hers. He was smiling against her lips, he was laughing against her lips, and she involuntarily repeated the gesture. She'd never felt so light in her entire life. There was no snow, there was no ice, there was no magic. There was only this, skin on skin, bodies against bodies, and souls touching souls.

She let her tongue loose, if only because he did so first. There was a dance going on in their mouths while their lips moved and meshed flawlessly together. Their hands were everywhere.

"Stay here tonight," she whispered before she knew it was out of her mouth.

"What?"

He got that look again, pale and nervous.

"Down boy, not like that," she giggled, "Just, here with me."

"And what happens when I inevitably have to sneak off in the morning?"

"I will be very sad, and you will do so with the utmost care and stealth, and then return the next night," she said.

"How about every night for the rest of my life?" he nuzzled into her neck.

She avoided answering by kissing him again, finally pulling them both away from the door.

They didn't return to the party, if anyone noticed Elsa didn't care. In a nightgown she curled up and against Hans' chest. He was in only his breeches and most basic undershirt. She tried not to think about what it might be like to have her hands on his bare chest.

"Your hair's down," he whispered.

"Did you think all women sleep I those awful buns and braids?" she said, yawning.

"It's like silver spun into thread," he mused, running his hands through her platinum blonde locks. "It's beautiful."

She placed a light kiss on his lips before she nestled into his chest, his arms circled around her. She drifted off easily, the hum of his breathing and the steady beat of his heart served a perfect lullaby. Her last though was musing how she seemed to have forgotten she had magic and the magic seemed to have forgotten that it controlled her. If just for the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**Note**: Sorry about another longer update. I work retail and it's the last week before Christmas and I've had to work every day this week for at least 5 hours with the exception of one day (which I had to spend out shopping all day). Thanks for the patience.

"You're a blanket hog," Elsa groaned into her pillow.

It was morning, the sun was not yet up, but a thin strip of faded orange on the horizon told the world the sun was not far behind. Elsa still had another hour's worth of sleep she could get in before she would be inevitably woken by Kai knocking at the door with morning tea. She had not meant to be up this early, but Hans' escapes from her room each morning weren't always quiet.

"Oh please you kicked me at least three times the other night," he said.

"Stop stealing my blankets and I'll stop kicking you," she yawned.

"Your room gets so cold sometimes," he said, lacing up a boot.

Elsa decided she was too sleepy to delve deeper into those implications and simply snuggled back into her pillow. Hans silently came over and placed a kiss on her temple before he mumbled a goodbye and made his way out of the room.

Even with him stealing the blankets, the bed was definitely colder without him. And it was the kind of cold that bothered Elsa. And this morning it bothered her enough to keep her awake.

She sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She pulled on her dressing gown and walked over to her desk. She rang the bell for Kai to bring up morning tea and she began reading over one of the mere five million things that needed her attention in the next forty-eight hours.

Things had resumed to their usual pattern, well for the most part. With Hans no longer spending hours of his daytime entertaining Anna he was free to meet Elsa for lunch or tea throughout the day, usually. It was still a clandestine rendezvous but Elsa not longer had to wait eight hours to get the chance to see him.

And with this newfound freedom, he was getting antsier.

"Hans," Elsa groaned one afternoon.

"Hans what Elsa? It's a perfectly responsible request," he said.

"Not for us."

He'd ask if she'd allow him to attend the midsummer festival as her official escort. Elsa silenced the part of her that wanted to reflexively and immediately say yes in favor of the part that understood the consequences and their unique situation.

"We don't have to be a secret, you know," Hans mumbled into her neck. He wrapped his arms around her middle from behind. "It's been enough time since your sister and I ended our would-be courting."

"She's not stupid Hans, she'd figure out what was going on. Have you forgotten what you told her about 'another woman'?" Elsa sighed.

Elsa couldn't deny that she did badly want the freedom of having him on her arm, without having to worry about who saw. And…she was getting antsy in other ways too.

The more nights they slept together in the same bed, the more Elsa thought about…_that_. They'd come close, a few times, to making a very big mistake. Sometimes his shirt came off and sometimes the hem of her nightgown got hiked up a little too high and they both had to cover incriminating marks on their bodies.

She had never in her life felt this way, or expected to feel this way. She'd read enough books with romance involved to know that eventually people did end up engaging in more intimate relations. In fact it was one of the first things she was expected to do as a monarch: get married and produce an heir. She'd decided long ago to forgo any sort of marriage and simply allow Anna and her decedents to inherit her throne.

But now…now she actually found herself _wanting_ a man. And that was something else entirely. But, giving into those urges would bring very real and very obvious consequence, in more ways than one. She couldn't be a parent yet, nor could she allow her children to be forced under the stigma of illegitimate.

Further….there was the magic.

While it was currently behaving, she had no idea how it would respond with feelings this and those types of activities. She could hurt Hans, she could do a great deal of damage, and worse, Hans would know.

She'd not yet told him, nor did she intend to if she didn't have to. She'd kept the powers a secret so far, assuming they'd remain under control, she saw no reason to make him privy to the knowledge that she was something far more dangerous and unholy than he'd anticipated.

"You'd enjoy them Elsa, but not that much," Hans said.

They were lying in her bed. She was pretending to do work, leaned again him.

"You spoke very highly of your home before," she said.

"Yes that's because I was trying to impress you," he said, "Now that you have been thoroughly impressed, we can all just admit that the Southern Isles are small and an undesirable holiday location."

"Says you."

"Yes, says me because I've been there. And besides," he said, "How am I to casually introduce the Queen of Arendelle to my brothers? 'Greetings Klaus this is my…' what exactly would I say?"

"Well…maybe one day there will be a word for me."

The sentence had slipped out, she felt him stiffen underneath her and then hug her tighter. She'd meant it though, as much as she wished she hadn't said it, she knew, deep, deep down where their relationship would lead them. And he did too. Which brought them both to their next point of contention.

Anna had to know.

"Elsa I want more than sneaking in corners and out of your room every morning," Hans said. "I want to be allowed to dance with you at balls, and to walk around with you, and take meals with you in peace. And I want one day to be able—"

"I know," she cut him off, "You don't need to say it."

"Then you have thought about it too," Hans said, "One day, very far down the road, I may ask you a question…I don't want it to be a secret forever Elsa," he whispered.

"I know…I just…it's complicated."

"Then uncomplicated it and tell Anna the truth. I know that's the only reason we're still doing this," Hans said.

"It's far more…intricate than that, you don't understand," she said, throwing the covers back and detangling herself from his legs. She walked across the room to her balcony door.

"Stop throwing synonyms at me," he smiled teasingly.

"You weren't there," Elsa said when she heard him walk up behind her, "Thirteen years, there's a lot of damage there. And knowing that I lied to her for this long would only make her hate me," Elsa said.

"You're so worried about her getting mad or you or hating you, you can't even see Elsa, Anna adores you. She loves you more than anything, she—"

"What do you know about it?" she snapped.

"A lot more than you," he said, levelly, "I spent hours with her almost everyday for weeks. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't mention your name," he said. He was not being unkind and perhaps that's what frustrated Elsa more.

"Don't tell me I have to break it off with you now to get you to confess," he said, half kidding,_ half_.

"That's not why I did that."

"Isn't it?"

She sighed, and knocked her hands against the railing aimlessly. She could feel the creep of frost on her fingertips and she took an extra step away from him.

"Elsa I stood before Anna and told the truth and did the right thing. Now it's your turn," he said.

In the end Hans won. He cheated a bit with his hands and lips and tongue but in the end, he convinced her that it was the right thing to do. However scared she might be, Elsa owed Anna this much. And if she truly wanted any future with Hans, she had to let the world know.

* * *

She elected to do it the night of the midsummer ball, that way she could officially go escorted by Hans later that night. It seemed easy, until she was standing in front of Anna's door.

One knock, two knocks.

When Anna opened the door, she practically pounced on Elsa, though knowing well enough that Elsa didn't like to be touched, she restrained.

"Elsa! Come in!"

She was so excited and ecstatic. She twirled in her dress for Elsa, her cheeks were rosy and Elsa had never seen her look so _alive_. All her intentions turned solid in her stomach and sunk as she imagined that smile vanishing from her face. She pictured her sister forever looking on her with contempt, or perhaps never looking on her ever again.

_Isn't that what you wanted?_

She confessed, sometimes she felt it would be easier if Anna hated her and once or twice tried to get her to do just that. It never worked and now that it just might, she was horrified at the prospect.

But that was the problem, she _loved_ Anna. And the image of Anna looking on her with hate forever made her stomach go raw. But she loved Hans too. Which did she love more? No, it wasn't a question of that and never would she broach it. This wasn't a choice between them it was a decision for them. They both deserved the deed Elsa was about to do. Elsa loved Anna too much to keep lying to her face and she loved Hans to much to watch him forced, miserably, into a continued concealed relationship with her, or worse, no relationship at all. She loved them both more than she loved herself, and it was for that reason the next words came out of her mouth.

"We have to talk," Elsa said, quietly.

"What about?" Anna said, curious, busy fixing her hair in the mirror.

"About…Anna I really, really love you," Elsa said, dropping onto the bed.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, suddenly concerned. She walked over and sat next to her.

"I just…you deserve to know the truth and I just—it's about Hans!" she practically shouted.

"What about him?"

"It's me."

"You're not making any—"

"I'm that other woman, it's me."

Anna's face went blank. Then it furrowed in confusion. And then it dawned as realization hit and then suddenly, oh so suddenly, it curled into something far less friendly, far less inviting, far more awful. It wasn't anger, or hatred, or even a glare. It was betrayal.

"Is that why you suddenly started spending time with me?" she hissed.

"No!"

Well…wasn't it? She did feel bad. But she'd been itching to be near Anna since the day she first shut her door. It seemed the guilt her relationship with Hans caused was a perfect catalyst for action.

"You're a bad liar."

Anna looked disappointed, she looked hurt, she looked like Jesus might have looked when Judas kissed him.

Elsa closed her eyes. She felt the frost beneath her gloves. She tried to steady her breathing through her nose. She clenched her hands and then clasped them together. Don't' feel, don't feel, don't feel…

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long has he been seeing you and how long have you both been lying to me about it?" Anna asked, hands on hips.

"Since…the coronation."

Anna let out a loud groan and flopped on her bed while saying what sounded an awful lot like "seriously?" Elsa had been expecting anger and a hatred for stealing away Hans…what she hadn't anticipated was Anna not caring at all about Hans and more about Elsa's lie.

And she was going to pay for her lack of preparation.

The temperature in the room was dropping. Fast. _No, no, no! Stop it! Don't do this now!_ Anna got up and harshly closed the balcony doors, shivering a bit.

"You know you didn't have to do all that stuff and suddenly start talking to me because you felt bad," Anna said, "I'd rather you went back to ignoring me behind that door if that's why you did it."

"No," Elsa groaned, "That's not—I didn't—Anna you have to understand—I wasn't."

Words weren't coming out right and Elsa's breath was getting harsher and harsher. Her heartbeat was picking up, blood pressure was rising. Skin getting paler. The frost was now seeping through to the outside of her gloves, a lot of good they did.

"You what Elsa? You what? I want to know, after all this time I have a right to know," Anna said, very seriously.

"They told me I couldn't tell you," Elsa whispered. She got up from the bed, she pulled her hands into her chest. _Just breath_e.

"Who said you couldn't tell me what?"

No, this wasn't supposed to happen. Papa warned her not to do this. Mama scolded her. The trolls prophesized. Anna couldn't know, Anna couldn't be here. Elsa shouldn't be here. She had to get out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Anna called as Elsa made for the door.

"Out—away—safe—you safe—make you safe," Elsa tried to get out between rhythmic, but quickly erratic, breaths.

"Elsa…" Anna said it suddenly, very softly, very concerned. "Are you all right?"

Yes. No. Both. Neither. Option C.

She didn't answer, but she could feel Anna getting closer. _No don't do that!_

"Don't—stay away!" Elsa called over her shoulder at Anna, slowly making for the door.

"Elsa!" Anna said forcibly.

Then Anna touched Elsa. That was a mistake. A big one. Elsa snatched her arm forward but the process a wire in her brain cut loose and the wall she slammed her hand against burst over in frost, the entire wall, and it crept up and all over.

"No…" Elsa gasped. "No! No!"

She stayed pinned to the wall, facing the wall. She didn't want to turn and see Anna's face. She didn't want to see whatever this looked like. She'd seen it reflected in the eyes of her parents, she didn't want to see it in Anna's.

But then there was a knock on the door.

"Oh come on," Elsa groaned.

"Anna? Are you all right?" said Hans's voice.

Oh, so apparently it _could_ get worse.

"Hans…don't…" Anna was saying behind her, but he was faster.

"I heard shouting and a bang, I'm coming in," he said and busted in the door, shoulder first, cracking and breaking the frost that had pinned shut.

Elsa may have been able to avoid Anna's face but Hans was right there before her eyes. It was first confusion, then shock. And then came fear.

"What did this?" he asked.

It was the word _what_, that's the thing that did it. He called her a what. Whether he meant to or not. This was Hans' most honest reaction to the truth of what Elsa really was, whether or not he knew what he was looking at. Elsa stopped being a person. She was a what now.

The poster of Anna's bed that Elsa was gripping started frosting over as well. She hissed and jumped away and that's when Hans understood. But it was too late. Elsa couldn't take this. The two people she wanted most to hide this from found out in the same instant and they looked at her now like a stranger. She was a ghost of the girl they knew. She couldn't stay around to become that.

So Elsa did what she did best. She ran.


	8. Chapter 8

**Note**: First of all I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. The holidays, work, and (for those of you who follow me on tumblr) some personal shit came up. But here you go.

"Did you know?" Hans asked, running briskly beside Anna.

"No…but, a lot of things make sense."

"Not for me."

Their feet hit the carpeted floors softly. As soon as Elsa turned from the room they'd taken off after her at the same time, both screaming her name. She was fast though, and had the advantage of surprise. And she knew the castle better than even Anna. Their only hope was to cut her off outside.

But yells from outside proved that might be quite difficult. There were remnants of Elsa all over the courtyard. Frozen fountains, frosted footsteps, and it was beginning to snow. Anna and Hans kept going, following the frost to the edge of the fjord. What Hans saw was enough to make him slide to a halt, nearly losing his feet under him on the loose rocks.

Elsa was halfway across the fjord, running on water. The ice had carried her to salvation across the vast expanse of water. Nature rearranged itself to keep her safe.

"She's gone," Anna said.

Hans didn't say a thing, he just watched Elsa's tiny form, clad in blue, across the water disappear into the forest and suddenly he felt a lump grip the walls of his throat and several pangs behind his chest plate.

She was all alone, getting farther and farther from home. Who would hold her in her sleep out there and stay awake all night just to keep her warm? Who would promise to kiss her every minute of the day just to show that she was loved? Who would she tease and read to? Who would tease and read to her? Who would be willing to drown and freeze in running across the fjord to bring her home?

"Monster!" came the snotty voice of the duke.

Hans and Anna whipped around together to see the duke stumbling near them, his two thugs in tow.

"Vile sorceress!"

Hans crossed the gap between them in two steps and yanked him by his collar.

"Say it again," he warned.

The two men came over and shoved him roughly away. Anna's arms caught him from falling and then quickly released him, walking forward with the same intensity.

"She's _not_ a monster," Anna said, far more kindly than Hans, but something seethed beneath the surface.

"Did you not see what she did?" he snarled from behind the arm of one of the men.

"She was scared,…" Anna said, "…and upset, and nervous, and probably a little angry…And she's…probably felt that way for a long time and tonight she sort of just…let it go."

Hans was impressed. Anna stood taller than he'd ever seen against the duke, she was calmer than he ever thought capable and far more level headed than he could ever hope for. It was very much Elsa's sister standing there.

"She's cursed this land," he said, staring at the snowing sky and then the fjord locked in ice, "If I recall correctly your kingdom has foreseen this—"

"That prophecy is an old fairy tale," Anna said. "There's not such thing as trolls."

"Until a few moments ago I believed there was no such thing as magic."

Annoying and greedy as he was, the duke knew what he was doing. Hans recalled some sort of prophecy Elsa had mentioned offhand while skimming a book of local folklore to find him a story to read. If the duke was willing to believe Elsa's magic validated whatever this doomsday omen was, chances were dozens of less educated peasants would be quick to do the same.

"I'm going after her," Anna said. She turned and walked from the duke before he could respond and Hans rushed after her.

"I'm going with you," he said.

"Hans I don't think—"

"I don't care what you're going to say. You can't stop me."

"Elsa would say I outrank you and most certainly can."

Hans jumped in front of her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders.

"And what do you say? Please Anna, I love her too."

Anna pulled back a bit and looked at him, blinking with furrowed brow. She looked like a professor reading an equation. She pursed her lips a bit.

"Elsa wouldn't want you to come."

"We're still talking about you."

She sighed, annoyed, but gave a small smile.

* * *

Elsa wasn't sure how far she'd gotten, all she knew was that Arendelle was nowhere to be seen behind her and the sky had grown very dark. Then suddenly there was snow, she had made it above the snowline. Was this a mountain? It must be. It was snowing lightly and the wind occasionally brushed through her hair and kicked up her dress.

She didn't feel any of it though. The snow was not cold, the air didn't bite, she didn't have any visible breath in the cold. And she was reminded that she was now a _what_. This is what a _what_ felt, or rather, did not feel. _Whats_ don't feel. How convenient for her, considering her personal motto.

She imagined the questions that may have sprung from Anna if she'd stayed a moment longer.

"What are you Elsa?"

"What is this Elsa?"

"What did you do Elsa?"

_What, what, what_.

She would not recover from this. All she saw was Hans' face, all she saw was Anna's face. In their eyes she had transformed into something beyond redemption. She was the devil. Lucifer had been thrown from paradise, landing on a distant, desolate place to rule over.

"A kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen," she mumbled.

So be it. Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. The gloves came off, they'd never go back on, they could not control her now. Her crown was Anna's from now on, let her have it. Let the angel reign over people, the devil would be the queen of ice and snow.

She'd build a home here away from it all. She'd bury her heart under the snow right next to everything, every ounce of concealed pain, every sound of a knock on a closed door, every tear she ever shed. It was gone now, it no longer existed. Everything she was, dead forever. Princess Elsa was gone. Queen Elsa of Arendelle was only a portrait in the throne room.

She built a palace to outshine and put to shame the castle in Arendelle. It glistened, it refracted, it sparkled, and shone. She threw down her hair and replaced her clothes, reeking of Arendelle and all she once was, with one of ice and frost.

Her home was glorious. It was beautiful. It came from her. It was lifeless, it was empty, it was cold, it was dark. It came from her.

The last thing she did was conjure in the snow a small snowman, the size and dimensions of the one she made the night she wounded her sister. The small thing was like a mirror: another _what_ made of snow just like her. And for once the snow felt cold inside her chest. She craved the warmth of Anna's eyes, of Hans' arms, or her father's words. She yearned for the sun. But she was not made for daylight. She was the snowman sitting on her front door step. She was the castle. She was the Snow Queen.

She turned away and stepped inside. With a wave of her hand the doors slammed behind her, once again locking herself away behind the safety of a door.

* * *

Anna had instructed Kai to keep an eye on the duke, a very close eye. She didn't trust him, mostly because she knew Elsa didn't and the more she heard the diminutive man talk about her sister, the more suspicious she got.

Hans had been hastily muttering about how they'd have to move quick before the snowfall covered her tracks and how the ground would be wet enough for her to leave footprints and a whole slew of other hunter-gatherer talk that Anna tuned out. She had her own tactic.

"Elsa!" she called, "Elsa! I'm sorry! I understand now! Well, not so okay with being lied to but let's talk about it!"

"Are you trying to attract every bear and wolf in the area?" Hans asked.

"No I'm trying to attract every runaway queen in the area, which is going to work better than your plan considering you lost her trail," Anna said.

They didn't say much for a while after that. Anna wasn't so angry at him. In all honestly, Elsa's relationship with Hans didn't bother her. It may have a few weeks ago when he first broke things off with her, but now the thing that had her the most heartbroken was the possibility that Elsa had only started giving her attention out of guilt.

Everything was making sense though. The gloves, the door, the secrecy, the lack of attention, all of it was slowly fitting together to form the puzzle that was Elsa. The one remaining question was: why? Elsa said they told her to keep her magic a secret…and why did Anna get the feeling of déjà vu every time she thought of Elsa's powers? It felt very much like a part of her already knew.

The sun came up and went back down and they were beginning to lose hope of getting anywhere close to her. Elsa always had a talent for becoming invisible, disappearing right before Anna's eyes. She excelled at stealth. If Elsa didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be.

And she'd looked so scared when she ran Anna nearly cried. In that instant the twenty-one year old queen of an entire nation was gone and a small girl, who so often hid behind her eyes, burst out. And that small girl was afraid of so many things she looked at Anna like she might look at a predator. She had no friends, not loved ones, just fear and instincts for survival.

"I'm coming for you Elsa," Anna said.

She would hug Elsa and never let go. She'd keep her warm, she'd keep her safe. They'd be best friends once more, and the sisters they'd always been. The images of Elsa, running for her life, looking like she did, perhaps even crying, in torn clothes, just stumbling and running and reaching for some place warm and safe to hide in…Anna felt something aching in her chest and a sting in her eyes. She would return to Arendelle with Elsa or spend her life looking for her.

"Look," Hans said.

Anna wiped away a stray tear and followed his gaze to smoke, many yards away and she practically sighed audibly. _Fire…_They moved towards it at a trot.

"'Wandering Oaken's Trading Post?'" Hans read, dismounting from his horse.

Anna followed suit and knocked the snow from the sign hanging just below.

"Oh! And Sauna!" she read, "Let's go in, right now."

She grabbed Hans' elbow and practically dragged up the steps and through the doors. And the change in temperature was not only immediate, but heavenly. She sighed and pulled her cloak closer, relishing in the warmth.

"Yoo-oo," came a voice across the shop.

Anna and Hans turned together to see rather largely built man, in an intricately designed scarf, waving at them.

"Big summer blow out!"

They went back and forth for a while, trying to locate some warmer clothes, despite his upsell of various summer items. Hans haggled with him (quite poorly Anna might add), eventually procuring Anna a thicker dress and cloak, along with a pair of boots.

"What about you?" Anna asked after emerging from the changing room, now in far warmer clothes.

"I'll survive."

She saw in his eyes a very similar steely determination as her.

"You meant it," Anna said, "When you told me you loved her."

"I did."

"The snow magic doesn't bother you?"

"I am in love with her in a way I've never been in love with anyone. I would have her in any form, queen or pauper, normal girl or sorceress," he said.

And Anna truly smiled, even though he turned his blushing face a way to pretend to look at some clogs. What Anna was looking for, Elsa had had right in front of her. True love, it sure seemed like it to Anna.

Her smile quickly faded into a gasp when the door blew open and a very large man, caked from head to toe in snow, walked in the door, marching in and pointedly walking between various points, grabbing things.

"Move, please," he said in a very frankly.

Anna crossed her arms and huffed, getting up and walking over towards Hans, giving the snow covered man access to the rope that had been hanging behind her. She watched him as he then stomped his way over to the front counter.

"Carrots," he said.

Oaken obliged, smiling all the while.

"Crazy storm huh?" Anna said, trying to be friendly to the incredibly unfriendly man, "Wonder where it's coming from."

"The North Mountain," he said. Hans and Anna both sat up instantly.

"Forty," he said.

"No, ten."

"Ah, no good, there is a supply and demand problem—"

"You want to talk supply and demand problem? I sell ice for a living," the large man said, removing the scarf that covered his face.

"Oooh, that is a rough business to be in right now," Anna laughed, "That's—That's unfortunate," she said catching herself and faking a cough, "But umm…what exactly was happening on the North Mountain? Did it seem…magical?"

"Yes, now back up, while I deal with this crook here."

That proved to be a mistake as only a few seconds later the man was tossed from the shop out into the snow. Anna looked after him anxiously.

"Hans he could show us the way to Elsa," Anna whispered.

"I was thinking the same thing…" he said, looking at the pile of unbought items on the counter. "Get changed, quick."

Hans quickly shoved a large amount of money at Oaken and gathered up the things, shoving them into a bag. A few minutes later Anna returned, changed into the heavier winter clothes.

"Find him before he gets too far away," Hans said, "Tell him if he takes us to the North Mountain he can have all the things he wanted."

Anna nodded and hurried out the door lugging the bag over her back. Meanwhile Hans tried to find clothes for himself. He'd packed naturally heavier clothes, the Southern Isles were much calmer than Arendelle but still, he'd been expecting summer, not winter.

"Hans," Anna voices came a few minutes later. She waved him over. "I've got good news and bad news."

"I'm listening."

"Good news is, he agreed to take me to the North Mountain, bad news is he agreed to take _me_ to the North Mountain," she smiled sheepishly.

"…I'm confused."

"Hans he'll take me to the North Mountain to find Elsa, but you have to go back to Arendelle," she said.

"What?" he nearly shouted.

"Shush!" she hissed, swatting at his arm. "Listen, this guy wasn't easy to talk to. I barely got him to agree to lead me to Elsa, I wasn't about to say 'Oh by the way we're brining another person as well'. He really isn't a people person."

"Anna you're not the only one who loves her," Hans said.

She gave him a sympathetic look and grabbed his hands.

"Please understand Hans, she's my sister. What's been happening here has been going on long before she met you. I'm not saying I love her more, I've just loved her for longer. Right now I'm the one who has to talk to her," Anna said steadily.

Hans had to admit that he was impressed. When she wanted to be, Anna could be very wise, very articulate, very calm, and very much a queen in her own right.

"All right," he said, "You know, despite what you think, you're far more than just a spare."

She smiled quite genuinely at that. She got up on her toes and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. She squeezed his hands one last time before turned away.

"Keep an eye on the duke please," Anna said while walking out the door, "Elsa didn't like him, and all those things he was saying about that old troll prophecy…just…watch him."

Hans nodded.

* * *

Hans returned many hours later to Arendelle with Anna's horse in tow of his own. The winter was not so bad here, or rather, it just seemed to fit better. Seeing the town and castle covered in snow was rather beautiful and reminded him of Christmas. Still though, the people he passed looked miserable and he frowned.

He approached the castle gates, which opened for him immediately to the greeting party of a few guards and Kai.

"Anna is on her way to the queen," Hans said, "She asked me to return to Arendelle. I'd like to have a word with the duke."

Kai looked a bit concerned but obeyed an vanished into the castle. A few stable boys took Sitron and Blizzard off and Hans rubbed his hands together a few times, and stamped his feet to keep warm while waiting to speak to the duke. Kai took an abnormally long time.

And when the door finally did open, it was not Kai who walked out.

"Your Highness," the duke said, flanked by his two large men, "I was hoping you'd be back. The servant tells me you do not, however, have the queen."

"The princess is going to find her and bring her back," Hans said, "But I need to talk to you."

"What a happy coincidence, I need to talk to you as well, Highness," he said.

Hans opened his mouth to say something but next thing he knew was a blow to the back of his head. He lurched forward groaning before he was hit again and dropped right to the ground. He felt something warm on his neck he knew must be his own blood. His arms were shaking too much to lift himself up.

"Bind him," the duke's blurry voice said.

Hans was manhandled, he felt metal irons on his wrists behind his back, he was forced up. Everything went dark, and the last thing he could remember was Elsa's face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Note**: Gonna be honest, I'm not thrilled with this chapter. I knew going in this was gonna be the most annoying one to write because it would be the one relying the most on the movie plot and dialogue. But's out of the way now. We're getting into the main artery of the story now. All drama and action after this. Also my next update might take a bit because I'm leaving for Florida tomorrow.

A very cold splash of water jolted Hans' head up and his body awake. His mind was slow to follow as he immediately started turning his head in every direction, blurry vision making his surroundings nothing more than a grey and blue smear sliding in and out of vision. His wet hair hung in his eyes and he shook his head, plastering the strands to his forehead.

The next thing he realized was his hands were bound behind him to the chair he was apparently sitting in. He jerked his whole body to no result. He tugged on his wrists, gritting his teeth and groaning, until he was sure he bruised them.

"Good morning, Highness," said a voice, evidently the one who had thrown the bucket of water.

Hans forced his eyes to focus on the small form of the duke. Hans eyed the bucket in his hands.

"I'm impressed you could manage to do something for yourself," Hans said, spitting out some water that had dripped its way into his mouth.

"Mouthing off is rude."

The duke set the bucket down and stepped a bit closer.

"Any particular reason why you felt this was absolutely necessary?" Hans asked.

"God, you even sound like her," the duke muttered. "But, that only furthers my theory I suppose. You're here because you would have been quite a opposed to what I was going to do, you would have probably rattled off to the guards or that idiot butler."

"I assume this is all leading to a point," Hans said.

The duke eyed him very suspiciously.

"You're _attracted_ to the queen."

While Hans didn't exactly care if the duke knew, the way the man said it made it sound so…dirty. As if Hans was only after one thing.

"What would that have to do with anything?" Hans said.

"You wouldn't want me to do what has to be done."

"Which is?"

The duke reached into the pocket of his trousers and produced a piece of paper, on which was a handwritten scribble that Hans could not read. He held it out in front of him and recited the writing aloud.

"'Your future is bleak, Your kingdom will splinter, Your land shall be cursed in unending winter, With blasts of cold will come dark art and a ruler with a frozen heart.' Does this ring a bell to you at all?" the duke said.

It did actually, Hans recognized it as the troll's prophecy Elsa read to him once from her book of folklore.

"I read it once, yes," he said.

"That's not why it should feel familiar," the duke said. "Look outside."

"I can't I'm in a prison cell with no windows."

The duke turned a particular shade of red and purple and huffed, shoving the paper into Hans' face.

"It's happening now! An unending winter, a ruler with a frozen heart, dark art and blasts of cold! The queen is this prophecy!" he insisted, flaying the page in Hans' face.

Hans rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Okay fine, I'll play along, what does this have to do with you beating me senseless and tying me up?" Hans said.

At this the duke smiled in such a way that Hans' stomach might turn. He smoothed out the paper and continued to read.

"'All shall perish in snow and ice, Unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice,'" he read. He looked up at Hans clearly expecting a response. When none came, he spoke. "A sword sacrifice is quite a clear statement of what has to be done."

At first Hans was missing whatever it was the duke was alluding to. He was ready to open his mouth to ask but then he saw the man's genuine _sneer_ and all the pieces slammed into place in his head. And then his stomach coiled sickeningly into ropes.

"You're going to kill her…" he said.

"I've already sent my men out, following the trail you so kindly left in the snow," the duke said.

"That's treason!" Hans nearly shouted, "Even thinking it is treason!"

"Well good thing the queen is not here to order my head from my shoulders then," he said.

"Bastard!"

Hans was struggling at his restraints again, tugging so hard he might dislocate his shoulders. He wanted to strangle the man, he wanted to claw out his eyes, he wanted to punch him until there was nothing left of his face.

"If you so much as touch her I swear to God—"

"You'll hop your chair over to me?"

"I'll _kill_ you."

"Best not to fight destiny Prince Hans," the duke said, "The prophecy is clear on what must be done to end this winter, I'm sure her people will agree."

"They're her citizens. They adore her. They won't stand by and let you execute her," Hans said.

"We'll see how they feel after a few more days of this winter and people start starving to death," he said. "For now, you stay here. Since you were so eager to see her again I suppose I'll let you have the front row seat for the queen's execution."

Hans let out a sound between a groan and a yell while he tugged and tugged at his restraints trying to get anywhere near the duke. But the man backed away and was out the door, slamming the metal behind him. And Hans rattled off every single curse he could think of in every language he knew.

The longer he sat there the more anxious he got knowing plots were unfurling around him and he was helpless to do a thing about it. After an hour desperation and panic set in

"Please help!" he shouted to anyone who might be near by, "They're going to kill her! Please help!"

He felt tears in his eyes from the pain of forcing his bruised wrists against the metal, again, and again. He had to keep going though. He had to try and try and try until he freed himself or the duke decided to kill him too.

* * *

"So, what made the queen go all ice crazy?" Kristoff said once they'd reached a steady pace in the sled.

"It's complicated," Anna said, "And I don't exactly know all of it…"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I didn't know if that she _could_ go 'all ice crazy'," Anna said. "And you can't talk about her like that."

Anna crossed her arms and sat back in her seat. She wasn't sure she particularly liked this man. Apart from the fact that she overheard him singing a song about how he literally enjoyed the company of wild animals over humans, he struck her as someone who was very selfish. Not only had he made sure she bought every single item he wanted from the store before helping her, but he only agreed to do so on the condition that his job would be safe when the winter ended.

"Who was your pretty-boy friend?" he asked, changing the subject.

"He's—he's courting my sister," Anna said. It was more or less true.

"Is that fancy ballroom speak for 'he's sleeping with my sister?'" he said.

Anna turned red from equal parts embarrassment and anger.

"No!" she shouted. "You're extremely rude, I hope you know that."

He shrugged with the most irritating smirk on his face. He was someone who was far too pleased with himself far too often.

"What about you?" Anna huffed, "Any particular reason why you prefer reindeer over people?"

"People are awful. Animals are honest. They don't know how to be selfish so they're never greedy, they don't lie or cheat," he said. "Or freeze entire kingdoms," he mumbled.

Anna would have been impressed by the depth of his statement if it didn't reek of hypocrisy. Not only did he happen to be a person himself, but she felt inclined to bring up that he, himself, only agreed to help her out of his own needs. Just when she opened her mouth to say something however, he cut her off.

"Shush," he said, holding an arm out in front of her.

"What now? Did I forget to buy you a pair of socks too?"

"Will you be quiet?"

Anna turned to look into the dark behind him, trying to see what he saw. That's when many pairs of glowing eyes popped up between trees. _Oh no…_

"Go Sven!" Kristoff ordered and the reindeer took off.

Things went very poorly, very quickly. The wolves caught up fast. The barked and jeered and snapped menacingly at the sled. And finally, one managed to drag Kristoff into the snow by his leg.

"Kristoff!" Anna gasped as he clung onto a loose rope flopping behind the sled.

Thinking fast, Anna set a sleeping bag ablaze and sent it flying, ordering Kristoff to duck. She smacked the wolf square in the face and it backed off just long enough for Kristoff to drag his way back up to the sled where Anna pulled him up.

"You almost set me on fire," he groaned.

"But I didn't!"

One trip over the gorge and a broken sled later, Kristoff was nearly ready to give up on Anna until she offered him a brand new sled. He agreed but Anna was reaffirmed that her opinion was correct, he was a very selfish man.

"You know it's not all about you," Anna said as they trudged through snow on foot.

"Excuse me?"

"Not everything is about you," Anna said, "All you care about is yourself."

"It's hard to care about a people are awful to each other," he said, "Just look a that crook back at the trading post."

"Not everyone is bad."

"Yes I'm sure other people are just spectacular. Tell the queen I really appreciate the cooler weather you know I think it was getting just too warm out—"

"Don't."

She grabbed him by the collar and gave him a firm yank. That seemed to disarm him as he looked at her with wide eyes and even turned the tiniest shade of red.

"You don't talk about her," Anna said, "You know nothing about her or me. And besides," she released him, "You're being the exact kind of person you say you hate," she said.

He got quiet after that. Perhaps he was considering what she said, or perhaps he didn't care enough to say a thing. Anna didn't care either way. She just needed to get to the North Mountain.

* * *

"I never knew winter could be so beautiful…"Anna said when the sun had fully risen on the frosted forest.

She looked over at Kristoff who looked like he was ready to agree but stopped himself.

"You're allowed to think it's beautiful," Anna said, "I won't tell your club of loner mountain men."

Contrary to getting angry at her, he actually let a smile crack.

"Uh-oh," Anna gasped dramatically, "He's experienced a positive emotion. Whatever will we do?"

He still didn't say anything. But he fought another smile, this time trying his bet not to let her see him. Anna went as far as to bump his shoulder with her own. He rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"So what about you princess?"

"Huh?"

"All you've talked about this entire trip was your sister. Do you have any magic powers I should be on the look out for?"

"No."

"Any pretty-boy princes of your own?"

"No, it's just me."

"Just you…"

Anna looked at him and shrugged.

"I'm just the secondborn sister, the spare," she said, planely.

"The spare?" he asked, actually stopping in his tracks.

"It's a royal thing," she said, "Basically I'm like a spare button in a jacket pocket in case the big, bright, and shiny one comes loose."

"You mean you're supposed to wait around to see if you have to be queen one day," he said.

"Yeah, it's the reason my parents had me," Anna said, looking down.

"I don't think that's true," he said, he started walking about, "Not that I'd know much about it and God help that kingdom if you ever become queen." He was smiling again and Anna felt more at ease.

"Hey, I did pretty good back there. Minus the crashed sled, we got out pretty alright," she said.

Sven came bouncing by, relishing in the snow, and Kristoff had to give him a few pats to calm him down.

"You were right though," he said, "Winter is pretty beautiful."

"Yeah, am I right?"

They looked at each other, then both eyed Sven with raised eyebrows. Then they looked down. Then Anna screamed. A small snowman, walking and talking, waddled right up to them, smiling brightly. So she did the only logically thing: she kicked it's head clean off.

Kristoff was quick to catch it.

"You're creepy."

Then began a game of toss between them, Anna screaming for Kristoff to get the talking head away from her, Kristoff enjoying her frazzled yelling far too much to stop. Finally Anna connected the head with the body, fixing it when it landed upside down.

"I think we got off to a bad start," he said. "Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs."

Something started ringing in Anna's ears. She'd heard that before. Those exact words, she knew those words. Long ago and far away, something inside her was begging her to remember. Then she conjured an image of Elsa's face.

"That's right," she smiled, "Olaf."

"And you are…?"

"Oh, I'm Anna."

Olaf seemed to have some sort of twinkle behind his eyes when she introduced herself.

"Who's the funky looking donkey?"

"Sven."

"And who's the reindeer?"

Anna bit back a giggle at Kristoff's face completely deadpanning. He shot her a look and she shrugged, smiling sweetly. He deserved that one.

"The reindeer is Sven."

"Oh they're both-? Makes things easier for me."

While Olaf occupied himself with Sven, and Kristoff occupied himself with Olaf's twig arms, Anna had a thought.

"Olaf…did Elsa build you?" she asked. It was worth a shot.

"Yeah, why?"

Anna's heart skipped a beat.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you take us to her?"

"Yeah, why?"

Kristoff groaned.

"I'll tell you why, we need Elsa to bring back summer," he said. Olaf practically bounced two feet into the air, squeaking.

"Oh, I don't know why but I've always loved the idea of summer, and sun, and all things hot," he gasped.

"Really? I guess you don't have much experience with heat," Kristoff said.

"Nope."

It was another ten minutes of Olaf rattling off everything he thought of possibly doing in the summer heat until they finally got moving, following Olaf's directions.

"So your sister makes living snow people now?" Kristoff asked.

"Apparently," Anna mused.

"You certainly seemed frazzled by a two foot snowman with the personality span of an eight year old," he bumped her shoulder.

"I was in defense mode."

"Oh of course, forgive me."

It was the first genuine smile they'd shared.

"You know," she said, tucking a hair behind her ear, "You can be pretty okay when you want to be."

"Oh really? What is okay?" he said.

"Okay is when you're funny, and smiling, and aren't complaining and don't make me want to smack you," she said.

"Noted."

He smiled at something, not looking at her. Anna dropped her own gaze to the ground, tucking that relentless hair back again.

"You're okay too," he finally said.

She came close to blushing.

* * *

When they got to Elsa's hideaway, Anna felt all the air literally leave her lungs. It was magnificent, and glowing, and gorgeous, and regal and so many other adjectives she couldn't even begin to list. Olaf was oblivious, Sven was ecstatic, and Kristoff looked just as dumbfounded as Anna.

"I might cry," he said, eying every part of the structure that he could.

"Go ahead, I won't judge."

This was Elsa. This is what her sister was hiding behind that door and under those gloves. She eyed Olaf, happily bouncing his way across the chasm and up the stairs. Did Elsa know she'd brought him to life? Did she know she was capable of that before she put the powers under lock and key? If she did…would she have still done it?

She walked up the steps and approached a very familiar sight, Elsa's locked door. She poised her fist to knock. But she stopped. This was something she knew oh so well. She was afraid to feel that familiar emptiness Elsa's silence on the other side would bring. But…she would not leave this place without her sister. She would bang until her knuckles broke, until she passed out from exhaustion, until she froze to death. She'd steel herself to remain on this mountain forever if Elsa would not move.

And it came as quite the surprise when the door opened to Anna's first knock.


	10. Chapter 10

**Note**: Originally the reunion scene was just gonna do the movie version until I decided to peak into an aspect of Elsa's story we didn't get to see in the movie and something I've been interested in. I hope my gamble worked out

Everything in this place echoed. There were no carpets or curtains to catch the sound so it bounced endlessly off the walls, answering itself over and over, until it wore itself out and dissipated. Anna walked in to the constant reverberation of her own footsteps.

Everything in this place was dark prevented any starlight or moonlight in through the walls. It was a cold darkness, a very lonely darkness. There was empty space in all directions where nothing but sounds moved.

Minding the ice she walked through the grand foyer. Even in its hollowness, she could see the beauty in every perfectly formed peak and pillar of ice. A glorious fountain sat in the middle of the room. This place was beautiful, but that's all it was.

She kept moving, her breath proliferated the air in front of her as she walked up the stairs. From above the foyer looked like it belonged in a museum, a monument long passed its heyday and long missing the life that once populated its space.

"Elsa," she whispered. It bounced, to no answer. She kept walking

When she turned the corner to the second floor she found what she was looking for curled up on a block of ice, meant, apparently to act as a bed. Elsa was asleep, curled tightly into herself, in the far corner of the room, her face to the wall and her back to entrance. Anna looked around. Everything here was empty too, just the person, clad in shimmering blue and silver, she may as well have been a part of the palace itself.

Anna tiptoed closer. Elsa was hugging her knees to her chest, her gossamer cape draped over her like a blanket. Was it meant to be a blanket? She was without a pillow either. Her eyes bounded back and forth under the lids and she was frowning.

What a sight it was. In the darkness of an empty room, within an emptier palace, slept a queen, a hard slab of ice for a bed, with no blanket or pillow, no light, no fire, no other human near her for miles and miles.

Elsa, alone.

Anna began to weep. She kneeled down beside Elsa quietly and softly, gently placing a hand on her exposed shoulder. She was so cold underneath Anna's warm hand. She dipped her head to rest against her sister's back. Her tears were the only heat in the room. In that instant she forgave her sister all her trespasses. She understood it all in one second of entering into Elsa's silent sanctuary. Dark and hallow, concealed away in the night, no bed, no comfort, no warmth or help, safely tucked away from the world and the world barred from her.

Elsa stirred. She turned calmly to Anna as if she already knew who was there.

"I dreamed about you," she slurred out, half yawning, blinking herself awake. "You shouldn't be here."

Anna raised her eyes, shimmering to match the walls around, to her sister's. Elsa sat up slowly, furrowing her brow at Anna's tears. She looked about the room and then back at Anna, wiping a tear from her cheek. She understood.

"Anna, don't cry," she said, "This place, this life, is my choice."

"I came to bring you home," she choked out, burying her head into Elsa's lap.

"My place is here," Elsa said.

"No, it's in Arendelle," Anna said, "And I'm not leaving without you."

* * *

Elsa had not been startled by Anna's presence. Perhaps it was because she dreamed of her only seconds before. But that did not mean she was pleased to see her here, either.

"Anna," she whispered, cupping her sister's face to look up at her, "My place is here, where I can be who I am without hurting anyone."

"You would never hurt anyone," Anna insisted.

Elsa grimaced. She released Anna and stood, walking towards the balcony where moonlight was trying to break through into the room.

"Everyone's capable of at least some evil Anna," Elsa said. If the evil was unintentional, she wondered, was it still evil? What if you could not control the destiny laid at your feet, where you still accountable? Was it your fault you were born?

"What happened Elsa?" Anna said, standing to follow her, "To us, what happened when we were kids. One minute you were my best friend, the next I only ever saw the outside of your door. What am I missing? What don't I remember?"

"You wouldn't remember," Elsa said, "They made sure you didn't."

"Tell me," Anna said, "I have a right to know now. What happened?"

Elsa looked at Anna's reflection in the ice. She nodded to it.

"Did you ever wonder why your hair looked like that," Elsa said.

"I was born with it…"

"No, you weren't."

Anna looked at the reflection then too. Elsa stared at the offending tuft of hair, pale from tip to root.

"What happened?"

It was clear Anna was going to force her to confess it. She wouldn't take just putting the pieces together and being done with it. She looked at Elsa defiantly she wanted to hear it aloud, from the lips of her sister. Elsa swallowed. She owed Anna this much.

"I struck you," she whispered, "I was trying to catch you but you went to fast," Elsa said, "And for the smallest moment before you went unconscious, you looked at me with such…betrayal and sadness and disappointment," Elsa swallowed away the threatening tears, "And I held you and you were always so warm and suddenly you were cold like ice and freezing and felt just like me…"

She dropped her head and did not look at Anna, but caught a glimpse of tears in the girl's reflection in front of her.

"They took away the magic, and made you forget," Elsa finished promptly.

She recalled the very small form in her arms. She had felt the warm slinking out of Anna's body, abandoning her to Elsa's cold and harmful care. Every time she closed her eyes she could see it and feel it and remember it and—

_Oh no_.

Elsa saw flurries of snow overhead. _Not now, not again_. Anna had noticed too.

"Elsa, listen to me," Anna said, "We can fix this. Come home with me and we'll make everything right."

Wait a minute…something was wrong.

"Make…_what_ right?"

Before Anna could answer they were interrupted by the pattering of feet and a voice.

"Anna it's been a really, really, really long minute," said a voice. "And you didn't come to get me so I decided to just come in now, hope that's okay."

Elsa's eyes widened as she saw what was unmistakably a snowman, not two feet off the ground, walking in, talking, smiling, all of his own accord. She knew him immediately and he practically screeched when laid eyes on her in the dim of the room.

"I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" he yelled, rushing into the room, sliding right up to Anna's side.

"Olaf?" Elsa gasped out. She may not be able to stop the tears this time.

There he was. The snowman who danced with Anna and craved warm hugs, her childhood friend and one companion, stood right before her. His eyes were so bright. His smile was so pure. She looked at her hands. Had that light truly come from her?

"You built me," he said sheepishly. "You remember that?"

"Yes," she said, quickly wiping away a tear before it even fell.

"He's just like the one we built as kids, we were so close, we could be that way again," Anna said.

"No, we can't. And now you know why."

"Elsa."

Elsa waved her hands to open the balcony to the moonlight and the mountain air. In the very distant horizon a haze of light told her Arendelle was alive and awake. The wind lightly brushed the snow capped pines down below the tree line, and the snow glowed a perfect white against the black sky.

"Elsa if you're scared it's okay, we'll work on it together," Anna said, "We don't have to be best friends again right away. But I need you to come home. Because I'm starting to get the feeling you don't know…"

"What?" Elsa turned around quickly, "What do I not know?"

"It's Arendelle…" Anna said, "You sort of…set off…an eternal winter…everywhere."

Everywhere. No, no, no. She couldn't have, she was here, the magic followed her, she made sure it would follow her and leave Arendelle be. But…

_Your power is beautiful Elsa but you must learn to control it. It will only grow..._

Was she truly capable of that as well? The ice castle, Olaf, and an eternal winter for an entire nation all from one person? In one hand she held life and the other was death. How did she reconcile that? She created as she destroyed and endangered as she sheltered.

"You can fix it," Anna said carefully.

"No I can't! I don't know how!"

The snow was falling harder and faster now. What of Hans? Was he back in Arendelle living this calamity? Or had he managed a way back home. What would he think of her now, the _what_ he once loved who set an entire kingdom to frost with one panic attack.

The snow was beginning to circle around her like the eye of the storm. Anna was saying something through the wall of flurries but Elsa wasn't listening. Nothing could be worse than this, nothing could ever feel this horrible, her heart was racing, her breath was shallow and fast and she might pass out.

_You're not safe here…_

Anna placed a hand on her shoulder. Elsa slapped it away reflexively.

Then the worst came.

Anna grunted and fell to her knees, Elsa turned to see it and she knew what happened without having to be told. Anna was struck. The nightmares of before came creeping into the present. Everything was crumbling…no, that was the creaking of the ice above their heads.

Elsa had veins because they were bursting. She must have a heart because it was splintering. She had lungs that were crumbling. She had tears that were freezing. Every horror of her every nightmare splayed out before her eyes.

The hue grew sinister as the walls started glowing red. The castle creaked and cracked and searched to destroy, pumping red and purple. This was her beating heart, closing in around her. This was the prison of her mind.

"Anna!" came a man's voice.

_Oh great_.

In came a man, about Elsa's own age, bulky and tall. He rushed over to where Anna was struggling to get to her feet.

"Who is this? No, never mind it doesn't matter," Elsa said. She just wanted them gone.

"I'm fine," Anna insisted quickly, "I'm not hurt."

It seemed to be true enough. Anna was standing and her hair remained its constant copper hue.

"This is why you need to leave," Elsa pleaded, "Bring me back to Arendelle and it will only get worse."

"I am not leaving without you. I won't leave you here alone..." Anna said through glistening eyes.

That's when a crash sounded downstairs and all four of them simultaneously bolted towards the stairs to see. Below were two burly men, wielding crossbows, brushing debris from their shoulders and arms. Elsa's door was demolished into pieces on the ground.

"Those are the duke's men," Anna hissed. "Did Hans send them…?" Anna asked confused.

But Elsa understood what Anna did not, or rather she was willing to accept a crueler truth while eying the weapons in their hands. They were not here with the same intentions as Anna.

"No, you were followed," Elsa said. She pulled Anna and Kristoff back and gently nudged Olaf behind her. "Listen to me very carefully," Elsa said, "You need go out on the balcony and stay there quiet."

Elsa was shaking. She knew what these men wanted and all she could picture was Pabbie's prophecy of her devoured by a fearful crowd. If Anna was not here she would have took off running long before.

"No," Anna said resolutely.

"Anna please there is not a lot of time."

"I don't care."

"Anna."

"Elsa."

"I am your queen."

"Not here you're not."

"I am your older sister, and I am telling you to hide."

They had wasted too much time though. She heard the men behind her. She sighed and placed herself directly in front of Anna.

"We're here to take the queen back to Arendelle," said one.

"Yeah, well get in line," the blonde man said. He stepped a bit in front of Elsa, glaring at the duke's thugs. She was liking this mountain man more and more.

"Our orders come from His Grace the Duke of Weselton," the other said dangerously to the man.

"Well I'm here with the Princess of Arendelle and you can—"

The man stopped short when he turned to gesture to Anna, Elsa turned around and saw why. Anna was shivering and her hair had burst into pure white in many places. Elsa's heart sank lower and lower and lower than she ever imagined possible.

_You're lucky it wasn't her heart…_

"Anna," Elsa whispered but she dared not touch her. She did not reach out to comfort her, to try and keep her warm, or hold her as she did those years ago. She knew what happened next and where Anna needed to go. "You need to take her to…" how to say this without sounding crazy, "At the base of the mountain. There's a volcanic spring. You need to take her there."

"I know," the man said, "I was there."

Elsa raised an eyebrow to him.

"You don't understand," Elsa said, "You have to—"

"I know," he cut her off. "Trolls," he whispered.

Elsa's eyes widened but she didn't argue. Fair enough. She'd ask later, if there was a later for her. She watched the blonde man lift her sister up into his arms, Anna was in too much of a half daze to really protest.

"We'll keep her safe Elsa!" cheered the little snowman, "You can count on me!"

Elsa smiled at Olaf, genuinely, smiled at him. Then she dared a glance at Anna.

"I will…" Elsa swallowed thickly, "I will see you soon, Anna."

The man looked at her, eyes locking they both knew she was lying. He looked at the thugs and then back at Elsa, understanding what she intended. _Get her out of here, she can't see this_. He looked at her with sympathy, with condolence, but mainly with reverence. He nodded.

"If you see a man," Elsa said, "Named Hans…just, tell him…" Tell him what? He knew it all, he saw Elsa laid bare. But he'd never heard the words out right, never heard her say directly to his face the three words he deserved to here. "Tell him I'm sorry I never told him in person."

The man nodded at that too, understanding.

"Keep her warm, and make sure she's safe," Elsa said the man as the duke's men allowed him to pass. They did not want witnesses. She watched them disappear from view as Anna craned her neck to look back at her sister, growing farther and farther away. "Tell her I love her," Elsa whispered as Anna vanished from her view. Anna had never heard that either.

Then the man holding his sister and the snowman were gone. Elsa stared down at the two large men before her, crossbows itching at their sides to be raised.

"I take it you're here to kill me," Elsa said slowly, readying her hands. She did not intend to die. She intended to distract them long enough to run. Chances of that working however...

"No," one said, "That'll come later."

All three moved at once. Elsa began running, they began firing, ice began shooting. It was a very delicate dance the three of them were in. They circled her like lions and she kept her hands raised at either side, ready for either to move or both at once.

"We're taking you back to Arendelle," the one on the left said. "Alive."

"Well you'll find that a difficult endeavor gentlemen," she said. She tried to muster all the confidence she didn't feel into her voice.

That's when one moved and Elsa was quicker. She pinned him to the wall, spires of ice surrounded him and held him there, hanging off the ground. One spike in particularly stretched up from the ground to graze very close to his throat, inches away, then centimeters. She was drawing blood now, red running down the ice like a growing vein.

And it felt _good_. She created blizzards with the flick of her wrists. She built castles to rival every royal palace in the world. She brought life where there was nothing with a few waves of her hand. She was above these men who fired at her with manmade weapons. They wanted to hurt her because they could not understand her and could not control her and their master desired what she had. This was power beyond a crown and birthright, this was _true power_. She was life and death in nature, the fallen angel ruling on Earth. She had wings where they only had legs. It wasn't her fault it was _theirs_. They were the weak ones trying to bring her to the ground. She was winter incarnate. And his is how she'd prove it.

"Well, well," said the man behind her, "The sorceress bares her teeth and they are _sharp_."

_No_. What had she done? She dropped the man. She dropped her shoulders, she lowered her hands, she felt her face loosen. She looked at her reflection in the ice beneath her feet. What was she becoming? Where would she end if she didn't stop? Whose face was that looking back at her? What would Anna say? What would Hans say? What would she herself say?

Was hers the origin story of a villain?

That's when she abandoned it all and ran on pure instinct, no goal, or destination, only primal fear of them, of their arrows, of herself.

She didn't make it very far. They snagged her right in the shoulder and she yelped, groaned, and gasped all at once. There was an arrow in her shoulder, burrowed deep, bruising, and burning her all at once.

She hit the ground, hard. She slammed the ice and felt her head spin. Something red stained glassy ground. Was that herown blood? It must be. It felt surprisingly warm.

"Utmerket," she groaned into the floor.

Her limbs felt useless. Something might be broken. They pulled her up, yanking her to her feet. The broke the arrow. It felt like someone tried to tear the muscle of her shoulder right from the bone. The point was still wedged in, yanking on her nerves and tissue. She screamed.

"Oops," one said.

"Bare ta meg," she mumbled, losing consciousness under the pain, eyes watering.

"Your language sounds like a horse shitting," the other said.

"Fokk deg," was the last thing she remembered saying.

* * *

After enough yelling, the duke agreed to release Hans from the chair. His hands were still pinned behind him, but he was free to pace as he liked through the cell. He wore holes into the stone over the few days he was locked down there.

He tried a few times at throwing his shoulder into the door, hoping the cold made the hinges brittle enough. But it never broke. _Your dungeons are impeccable Elsa, I hope you're quite proud_. He'd bruised himself, torn his clothes, and even broke skin in places trying to force his way out of his restraints and from his cell.

This morning was different though. He heard more movement, louder movement that, based on the hushed tones and constant shushing, was trying to be quiet. He peaked out through the crack between the door and the wall.

Two men. Two large men. The duke's men? One of them was carrying a bundle. The more he looked at it the bundle looked disturbingly human shaped. It was. Wait…He pressed closer to the gap, his face was flush to the wall. He saw a braid of hair like silver.

"Put her in this one and get the cuffs," one hissed to the other.

_Elsa! _He almost shouted it. If he had a free hand it would have covered his mouth. Was she alive? She had to be, they were locking her up. She was unconscious but alive. He'd accept alive for now.

They put her in that cell thinking Hans had no idea she was there. He had to get to her.


	11. AUTHOR'S NOTE (next update)

**FIRST**: I apologize for getting your hopes up with this chapter update. **SECOND**: These updates are getting slow I know but all week I have been up to my eyeballs in stuff for my Disney internship and running around doing stuff with other CPs. I'm halfway done an update for the oneshots series though. They will come I promise. I apologize again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Note**: And finally here it is. With my training coming to end (hopefully) tomorrow I'll have two days off to hopefully get the next chapter up sooner. Thanks for the patience.

Elsa blinked and blinked and blinked. Everything was a grey blur, she was sideways, laying on something hard. She tried lifting her hands. They were heavy, and her right arm shot full of pain up and down and up again. She let out a groan through clench teeth and shut her eyes again. _Open your eyes! _She could barely keep them open for a second or so between fatigue and pain taking turns battering her.

_On three. One…two…_

Her eyes opened and keeping them that way took all her concentration. She was in a room of stone. No…she was in _her_ room of stone. She knew this place, she knew these walls. It was her cell. The weight on her arms, she knew without looking, was _her_ shackles.

_One…two…_

She sat up in one motion. Her head was spinning on a top and her vision went completely dark for a few seconds before returning. She commissioned this cell so long ago, and here she was, caught in her own trap. The cell designed to keep her secured finally had her in its grasp, the shackles like gloves, bolted to the floor, encased her hands, cramped joints and fingers itching to flex beneath the metal cage.

She looked at the source of her pain in her right arm. There was a white bandage shoddily wrapped around her shoulder. Protruding out was the remnants of the wood shaft, not bothered to be removed after it broke. There were deep red and brown bloodstains all over the bandage and down her arm. How long would it take her to get an infection she wondered…

Perhaps they did not intend her to live long enough to succumb to infection, or perhaps they didn't care to treat it when it did happen. Either way she knew they intended her to die here, perhaps quietly, perhaps loudly, either way, this cell was her tomb.

Was that better she wondered. As she looked out the window and saw her own soul setting the kingdom to a whiteout, snow piled high up the window, the winds carrying snowflakes at blistering speeds. It was all as Anna said. Arendelle was trapped in her turmoil, they were all a part of her pain now. And despite moving far away, to the top of a mountain, it had worsened and worsened.

Her fears were true, the storm didn't follow her when she left, but she simply brought ice in her wake and it stayed.

What was she? What was the meaning of her or the point? She was far too human to be what she was, she felt too much. In every second emotions bruised and blistered and burned inside she couldn't contain it so why? Why was she born?

_What is it you want from me?_

The answer was always silence, the howling wind, dripping water, faint footsteps in the hall. No, louder footsteps. Footsteps getting closer. Multiple footsteps. An opening door.

"Welcome back, Your Majesty," said a very snotty, very small, very English voice.

The Duke of Weselton stood before her with her two assailants flanking him.

"What you have done is treason," she said dangerously.

"Treason is nothing compared to what you did," the duke said, "And your citizens will agree when they are reminded that there is a reason for this happening, and a solution."

"What are you talking about?" she rolled her eyes.

The duke studied her for a moment.

"You and the prince must have been spending too much time together, I can't tell who has picked up on whose mannerisms but you both are equally irritating," he said.

Elsa turned red there. Then a thought dawned on her that should have been apparent the second she woke up. _Hans!_

"Where is he?"

"Safe."

"That was not my question."

The room was beginning to fill with frost in the corners. The duke's men shuffled a bit, perhaps preparing to strike her other arm with an arrow should things go poorly.

"He is here, in Arendelle, alive, and safe," the duke said, "Although between the two of you I really must congratulate myself on my proper guess about your relationship," he said.

As much as she must have been blushing she glared and glared at him.

"If you've hurt him—"

"Yes, yes I know you'll have me torn to pieces, frozen solid, I heard it all from him already," he said. "He is safe. You however, will not be."

Elsa took at look at the creeping frost and the blizzard outside and scoffed.

"Are you familiar, Majesty, with the troll's prophecy?" he said. "The one recorded during the reign of Arendelle's first king hundreds of years ago?"

Elsa raised a brow at that. What would the Englishman know about that? Further, what did it matter? She'd heard the prophecy once or twice in old folk tale books and could hardly recall more than a phrase.

He pulled out the paper, crinkled and hand written as if copied from a book.

"Your future is bleak, Your kingdom will splinter, Your land shall be cursed with unending winter, With blasts of cold will come dark art and a ruler with a frozen heart, Then all shall perish in snow and ice unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice," he read.

The world around Elsa did something strange, like a screaming in her ear. For the first time in her life, she knew what it felt like to have a shiver up your spine and gooseflesh on your skin. Her heart might have stopped working, her breath certainly had. Her insides turned into lead and ropes and coiled and sank, never to return back to the light. The world crumbled in on itself.

She was born to do exactly what she did that night on the fjord. Hundreds of years before she was born she'd already done it and would already do it. And now she was meant to die.

No, hundreds of years before she was born she was already dead. This was her point, this was her reason. Winter forever unless she died to protect her people and family. Die for Anna, die for Hans. Could she force that burden onto them? She couldn't stop it, destiny and oblivion called her name.

She would answer. She would obey. _I'm sorry Papa, I'm sorry Mama_. She knew now she must truly have a soul like other humans because she could feel it dying even before they'd taken her to her execution. She could feel it dry up inside and break. There was no Snow Queen. There was no grand ice palace. There was no crown or throne. There was only Elsa.

She grew numb to everything. She heard nothing around her, not the duke talking or the sound of more footsteps in the halls. She saw only her cursed hands and storm outside. She felt nothing, and she would feel nothing. The end was calling and the end would out.

_I am truly the devil after all_. She was the villain of the story, she was the dragon to be killed, the angel to be thrown from grace. And she never felt the fall. Was this how villains in those stories felt? _No please, you need to understand why I did it! _But no one ever listens to them.

Show me I won't be killed in vain. Let them live if I agree to let them kill me. Die for Anna, die for Hans.

* * *

Anna felt chills running under her skin. It unsettled and it tortured. She wondered if Elsa felt like this. The ice was in her veins too, but it was different. The magic protected Elsa that night on the fjord, changing the water beneath her feet to carry her across, yet it wanted to punish and tear Anna from inside. It wanted to protect Elsa who had no control over it in moments of peril, Anna understood that much.

"I'm gonna warn you," Kristoff said, "My family can be a little inappropriate and loud and…heavy, _really_ heavy. But they mean well, they just—the sort of—"

"Kristoff," Anna placed a hand on his arm, smiling. "I'm sure they're great."

He smiled back. He could be incredibly warm when he smiled. So much for hating people, he brought Anna here. This had nothing to do with his ice business or the new sled she owed him. He was doing this because he wanted to. And that made Anna feel, at least briefly, warm inside.

The idea of him with a family, brothers and sisters, perhaps an elderly grandparent, was…for lack of a better term…adorable. As hulking and angry and unapproachable of a man he was, every time he talked about this family of love experts he smiled.

Anna shivered again and in the corner of her eye she was sure she almost saw him place his arms around her shoulders but stopped. Why did he do that she wondered. Was it rude to ask him to put his arms around her? She imagined it would be warm, in more ways than one.

She thought of Hans and how she never once hoped like this that his arms would go around her. How odd. Another shiver ended her thoughts right there.

"Anna over here," he called, placing his hands over a vent of steam. She mirrored him and felt instantly grateful.

Still though, his arms would have been better.

They moved on through the volcanic plateau, it was very fertile here, everything was green and the air was warmer, moister. And something about all of it, particularly the smell, felt so very, very familiar.

"Okay Anna," Kristoff said, walking into a field of rocks, "Meet my family."

Anna looked around and saw no one. There was nothing but the rocks—oh…He started talking to them. Oh…

"He's crazy," Olaf whispered.

Anna just watched him, wondering if he was playing a trick on her or if Olaf was right. He spoke to each rock individually, calling them different names.

"I'll distract him and you run," Olaf whispered, running up to hug the nearest rock. "Anna because I love you I insist you run."

She didn't move only because she had absolutely no clue what to do. That's when the rocks started moving, rushing and rolling right to Kristoff and she had a moment of fear, certain he would be crushed but instead they popped open, sprouting arms and legs and heads.

"Kristoff's home!" they chorused.

"Kristoff's home!" Olaf echoed, "Wait, Kristoff?"

Trolls…

"They're trolls," she gasped and then suddenly smiled. His family was trolls. She watched a few smaller ones jump on his back, perhaps they were the younger siblings she imagined.

Apparently the trolls were just as surprised to see her as well because they all, simultaneously, turned to look at her. A few blinks later and they were bursting into smiles.

"He's brought a girl home!"

Oh…

They were running over to her immediately, lifting her, and practically tossing her into Kristoff's arms in one move. She gripped tightly to his coat while he smiled sheepishly.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I've learned to just roll with it," he laughed, setting her down, "Listen guys," he said to the trolls, "It's not like that, we have a problem—"

"I'll say, you need to wash up," said a female troll, "That's not way to impress your lady."

"No that's not—"

"And you brought the reindeer too? You can't court ladies around on wild animals."

"Okay first of all—"

"We need to work on your posture, she looks like a right proper lady and you can't slouch around like you always do."

"And I hope you've gotten over your grumpy phase."

"And that you broke your habit of tickling in the woods."

"Enough!" Kristoff shouted, blushing deeply. "This is not about me. We've got a real actual problem here."

Anna suppressed a smile. Contrary to the stories she'd been told as a child these trolls seemed kind, familial, and smiley. They weren't banishing her from the woods in a fit of magic, they weren't jealously guarding their homes or stealing infants. They had cared for Kristoff and raised him and sheltered him and fed him.

"Is it because he's socially impaired?" one troll whispered to Anna.

"You know he's quite sweet if you give him the chance," another one said.

"Please!" Kristoff practically whined and Anna actually giggled. "Don't encourage them," he said to her.

"They're sweet," Anna said.

"And they're not rocks!" Olaf added bouncing up and down with the smaller trolls.

"Where's Grand Pabbie?" Kristoff said, ignoring them both, to a troll.

A flurry of whispers was sent through the crowd of trolls like a fire made of sound. Then it traveled back towards them, this time carrying a rolling rock, larger than the others, that came to a stop in front of Kristoff and Anna, just in time for another shiver to run through her body. She felt Kristoff catch her, finally his arms were around her. It was as nice as she hoped, but all hope for warmth seemed to be fading.

"Your sister did this."

It was not a question. It didn't sound accusatory but Anna sat up to defend her, only to be knocked back by another shiver, back into Kristoff's arms.

"She didn't do it on purpose," Anna whispered out.

"No," Pabbie smiled at that, "I imagine she didn't. Your sister was ever kind and ever protective of you."

Anna frowned and titled her head in confusion.

"I've watched her, her entire life," he said, "Your sister is a relic of a long passed age of magic. She was born of cold and winter air and mountain rain combing, there is great beauty in her magic but also, as you learned the hard way, great danger. A power that cannot be fought by a hundred men contained in one person…"

"Can't you remove it from Anna?" Kristoff asked.

"If it were her head it would be simply, but the heart…_I_ cannot help her," Pabbie said, holding her hand sympathetically, "Only an act of true love can thaw a frozen heart. And if not…to solid ice you will freeze forever."

"True love?" Anna echoed.

"True love's kiss!" one suggested while many other trolls bounced gleefully in agreement.

"I don't have a true love," Anna said.

"You'd be surprised," Pabbie said, "Not all true love is exactly what you think it will be. Love exists in strange places and people say 'I love you' in the most ordinary ways…a kind hug, a shared meal…a closed door…"

Anna swallowed.

"The loneliest people have the biggest hearts. Sometimes people make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed, but give them a chance to prove it to you and you will find the kindest and most loving person you could imagine has been with you all along," Pabbie said.

Anna felt tears creeping in her eyes remembering that girl curled up, alone in the dark, in a cold and vacant castle of ice atop a mountain. A closed door…a mountaintop prison…

"For now," Pabbie said, "Get her back to the castle and back to warmth. It won't work for much longer, but keep her as warm as possible for as long as possible."

"I will."

Kristoff lifted her and held her tight to his chest. She curled into him, head to his chest, chasing his heartbeat. He pulled her cloak around her best he could as they climbed atop Sven.

"Come on Olaf," Kristoff said.

And they sped through the snow back to Arendelle.

* * *

Hans saw his chance in the passing of Kai, Elsa's steadfast head of household, through the dungeons halls outside his miniscule door window.

"Kai!" he hissed through the very thing gap of bars, eyelevel, on the door of his cell. Kai turned and gave him a confused look.

"What is it?' Kai whispered back, anxious, watching around the hall.

"I need your help," he said, "Elsa is in that cell, I need to see her."

Kai looked at the cell and back at Hans.

"You're sure she's in there?"

"Yes, I saw them put her in."

Then suddenly Kai disappeared and took all of Hans' power not to scream after him. He cursed under his breath and banged his shoulder against the door. He sat on the bench, letting his wet and dirty hair hang messily over his eyes. How long had he been in this cell? Days? Weeks? He wasn't sure. He couldn't even count by meals, they came so irregularly.

Then the cell door opened and closed just as quickly. In came a slender man, dressed down in nothing but his undergarments.

"I'm confused," Hans said.

"Take off your clothes."

_"What?"_

"Here."

The man shoved onto the bench a pile of clothes that looked suspiciously like a guard uniform.

"Give me your clothes and put those on," he said, coming over to unlock Hans' shackles.

The release of tension as he swung his shoulders forward for the first time hurt in the best way. His wrists were deep purple. And to the best of his ability through the ache of his joints he shoved on the stiff, pressed guard's uniform, shedding his own tattered and dirty clothes.

After a few moments Kai came in.

"We don't have much time," he said, "I need you to come with me. You can speak to her for a brief moment but after that you need to move on."

Hans put on the guard hat.

"Thank you for doing this for me," Hans said,

"I'm not doing it for you."

Kai turned his back and went out the door and suddenly Hans felt all the more grateful towards Elsa's steadfast and loyal butler.

"The duke plans on staging a formal execution," Kai explained, "The townspeople don't know but the guards do. As of right now they plan to stop it, which is why you need to be on that platform with them as well."

"The duke is actually going as far as to formally charge her to an execution, the queen in her own kingdom?" Hans said.

"As I said, it's only going through because the people don't know and the guards have no intentions of letting it happen. They intend to arrest him tomorrow at the gallows but he does have his own men that need to be dealt with as well, hence why we're waiting until everyone is in public and can't do a thing. If they knew what we intended, they'd have her killed tonight in secret."

Hans cooled his boiling blood only by the thought of finally seeing Elsa's face for the first time in what felt like years. He would hug her, and kiss her, and free her, and hold her forever. Then he'd kill the duke.

* * *

The guards posted at her cell door knew him for a fraud immediately but let him enter regardless. Ever the queen's men, these guards.

Hans slipped in the half open door quickly and it shut swiftly behind him with only the slightest bang of metal to stone. He removed his hat at once and glanced around the room to see a woman, clad in blue and silver standing with her back to him. Platinum hair with sparkles of snowflakes greeted him instead of a face as she stared at the window.

His eyes lingered on her right arm, bandaged, bloody, with a suspicious looking object protruding from it. An arrow shaft. He would _kill_ the duke.

"At least they gave you a window, I didn't even get that much," he said.

He watched her entire body stiffen and then she slowly turned around. Unfortunately the first thing he noticed were her hands, bound in cuffs of metal enclosing her entirely to just beyond the wrist. Through the shackles, she was pinned to the floor of the cell. Her right arm was supported by the left.

Her face was blank, eyes glazed over. For every muscle in her face that wanted to smile at him there were ten more content to frown. She looked in agony.

"Elsa what is it?" he asked, stepping toward her immediately.

It would have hurt less if she'd backed away from him, but instead she didn't move an inch at all, not when he got near her, not even when he hugged her. He wondered if he should dare to kiss her, how badly would that hurt him when she didn't respond?

"Elsa listen to me," he said, "We don't have much time the duke is going to have you killed."

She didn't move. All she did was blink. Then he realized…

"You already know…"

That's when she finally moved, turning away from him to look back out at the blizzard outside.

"It's the reason I'm here," Elsa said, "The troll's prophecy was true after all."

"Elsa you can't possibly believe that-"

"Yes I can," she snapped, "I grew up hearing that prophecy and never once did I put the pieces together. I think my mother did though…And perhaps even my father too. I wonder what they would do now, if they were still alive. Would I still be down here?"

Hans grabbed her shoulders, mindful of the wounded one, and forced her to turn and face him with a jangle from the chains at their feet between them. He gently lifted her chin to face him.

"They wouldn't allow it, there are people that truly love Elsa. Anna loves you—"

"Not anymore, I just struck her right in the chest with my magic," Elsa said, looking down. "I don't even know if..."

Hans couldn't speak to what happened between Elsa and Anna on the mountain so he let it fall to the side.

"_I_ love you."

That's when her eyes started watering again. Her face didn't change but her eyes did. Something in there broke. It didn't snap, but _crumbled_ away. Something inside her disappeared entirely, like a shield or armor. It was gone. The shell she had been pretending to be only moments ago couldn't contain whatever was going through her head right now.

"I'm a _what_ to you."

Even though Hans had no idea what she was saying, the way her voice was equal parts steel and equal parts breaking, the way a single tear went down her cheek, made his own eyes begin to moisten. He hadn't cried since he was thirteen.

"What do you mean?"

"You saw the magic, and you asked 'what did this'?" she said, accusing him.

He recalled the night in Anna's room when her magic was revealed. He said the words carelessly, more concerned for the safety of both women than of trying to be politically correct. He wanted to say it was a miniscule thing to get hung up on but then he considered…the door.

Anna talked so often of that door and how it never opened. Elsa wasn't blocking Anna out so much as she was hiding. The door was all that stood between her the duke's lynch mob, between her and these shackles, between her and the gallows tomorrow. She was hiding from people like the duke. And from people like Hans. From the people who would see her as less a person, more a monster.

What had he done?

"Elsa, please," he whispered. He could feel it in his chest before it happened in his eyes. Tears. "You have to understand I love you more than anything. I don't care about the magic. I love you, all of you, and only you. I'd run away with you now back up that mountain and stay there forever if it meant I was with you."

She watched him silently, face unwavering, but eyes red and spilling out tears. She was resigned and broken, like a wild horse she was accepting the yoke and saddle of her masers. She would die now.

"You don't even know what you'd be resigning yourself to," she said, "You fell in love with a lie, with a secret. What happens the first morning you wake up to our bedroom covered in frost? What happens when my children have the same curse? What happens when we can't even have children because my magic-because we can't-" she let out a something between a yell and a growl and turned. She was showing too much emotion.

He had ended up on his knees at some point, head bowed, his hands grasping at her dress.

"I can't forget it Hans," she whispered. "I know what the magic is, I've always know, and even to you, and even to Anna, it's a...poison. I'm _poison_."

His head faced the floor with real, actual tears coming out of his eyes.

"I will not watch you die," he said.

He looked up at her to see her blink long, squeezing her eyes shut. Her face glistened in the dim light in the places where it was wet. She looked down to him and for the briefest second he saw her shell break into a cascade of emotion, of pain, and hurt, and sorrow, and guilt, and anger.

"Then close your eyes."

Then Hans shattered.


End file.
